


Sick Affairs

by TheStrangeLittleAngel



Series: Trials and Tribulations [3]
Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Danny is a fucking snake, Eventual Smut, F/M, Murder Mystery, No-Entity AU, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry, Stalking, Zarina is an idiot with a camera, i still dont know what im doing, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 51,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStrangeLittleAngel/pseuds/TheStrangeLittleAngel
Summary: Zarina is a young, aspiring documentarian with a passion for her work. Three years following the murder of her father and the documentary that exposed the man who killed him's actual motives, a series of murders started cropping up in Florida. The chance to get on the front lines and potentially find out who was behind them was too good of an opportunity to pass up. She packed up her belongings and moved to the town of Roseville - the hunting grounds of the infamous Ghost Face murderer.She is determined to bring him to justice, no matter the cost.
Relationships: Zarina Kassir/Danny "Jed Olsen" Johnson | The Ghost Face
Series: Trials and Tribulations [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842229
Comments: 136
Kudos: 89





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea I concocted from what was initially a one-shot involving Zarina and Ghostface. It... Became a lot more than that. I tried to adhere to canonical backstories as much as possible, but the dates have been changed a bit. I'll be pretty vague on the exact year, but this will probably take place in the late 2000s/early 2010s.

Zarina Kassir took a deep breath as she stood outside the Roseville Gazette office with a small box of supplies in her hands. This was it. She finally took the plunge. Moving to the hunting grounds of a deranged serial killer was probably the riskiest move she’d ever made in her life, and that was saying something. Still, she felt the need to be on the front lines. The man known only as ‘Ghost Face’ to the public was still a very active threat - one she hoped to help bring down.

The recently hired columnist walked through the door with a spring to her step. Several employees looked up at her when the chime above the door opened but quickly returned to their work. After punching in, she made her way to the desk she’d been assigned and sat her box down on it before plopping herself into the office chair. As she started organizing everything, the sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention.

“So, you’re the infamous Zarina Kassir I’ve heard so much about?” The voice belonged to a man with intense brown eyes and dark hair with streaks of grey running through it. He was roughly six feet tall and around his early forties, but maybe the bags under his eyes made him look older than he was. “The one who made that documentary on Clark Stevenson, right?”

“I am,” She replied as she examined the stranger, taking in every detail she could.

It was clear he was doing the same with her. “You don’t look like much. I expected the woman from Brooklyn that almost single-handedly brought down an infamous IR-28 gang member to at least be… More imposing.”

So, this is how it was going to be? “Looks can be deceiving. For all you know, maybe that’s what I _want_ people to think.”

“Sure it is.” He leaned down and pressed his palms against the side of her desk. Those brown eyes gazed down at her intently. “Listen, you may have fooled the editor-in-chief, but I know exactly why you came to Roseville. You think you can handle our local serial killer the same way you did with that gangbanger. Let me be the first to tell you that you have _no_ idea what you’re getting yourself into. That man is _nothing_ like Clark.”

Zarina sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “All I have to go off of is all the articles I’ve read online, so maybe he is. That’s not about to stop me though.”

The man rolled his eyes and stood back up. “Better people have tried and failed, _Zarina._ When you eventually accept your inevitable defeat and crawl back up to New York with your tail between your legs, don’t say no one ever warned you.” He turned and walked away as she sat there and glared daggers into his back.

She sighed and turned back to her box. The first item she fished out was a framed photo of her and her parents, back when her father was still alive. She brushed her fingertips over the image of the smiling man standing next to her younger self. She found herself being pulled back to the events that happened nearly three years prior, but the sound of knuckles rapping on her desk brought her back to the present. She glanced over and was greeted by a new face.

“Hey. Overheard you talking to Charlie back there. Just wanted to say don’t worry about him. From what I’ve heard, that guy’s been like that his whole life.”

Zarina looked the man over. He had short brown hair that looked intentionally messy and piercing green eyes. He looked to be about her age. No older than thirty, if she had to guess. He was dressed in business casual. His strong facial features suited him well. She pressed her lips into a hard line. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“I can imagine.” He looked her over with a gaze much softer than the critical, soul-piercing one Charlie had used. It was much more like a curious interviewer trying to soak in every detail he could for his next piece. “Zarina, right? Name’s Jed.” He offered his hand to her.

She paused for a moment before ultimately deciding to take it and give it a firm shake. “Jed…” The name was familiar. She quickly realized where she’d heard it. “Jed Olsen. You’re the one who’s been writing the pieces on the Ghost Face murders.”

He chuckled and nodded. “So my reputation precedes me? Guess you have been reading the articles then.”

“I take in every bit of information I can about a case. The people deserve to know the truth, after all.”

“How noble.”

She shook her head. “Simply telling the truth shouldn’t be regarded as a noble cause. It should come naturally to us.”

“In a perfect world, maybe.” He shrugged.

Zarina knew very well that the world was _far_ from perfect. That’s why she felt people needed someone like her. Someone who wasn’t afraid to get dirty and expose scammers, liars, and especially _murderers_ for what they truly were.

“Anyway, I’ll let you get settled in. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” As Jed walked away, she returned to what she’d been doing. The picture of her family was placed off to her right. She took one last glance at it. Her father had supported her cause in life. His death was what drove her to push on, to keep fighting, to see through the lies, and to expose what others wouldn’t. She smiled softly and turned to her box. Time to get back to it.

Her first day passed uneventfully. Charlie hadn’t reared his ugly head after her initial encounter with him. She met a few other coworkers during her lunch break. There were a few occasions where she passed by Jed and noticed him smiling at her. He never bothered to speak. Instead, he just gave a polite wave before turning back to his computer screen. Soon enough, her day was over and she left for her apartment.

It was about a ten-minute drive from the Roseville Gazette. She parked her car and walked in, hands in the pockets of her jacket. One held onto her keys and the other rested over her folded knife. She was bold for moving to Roseville, but she wasn’t stupid. She grew up in a dangerous part of New York, where self-defense was almost a must.

She entered the apartment building and took the elevator to her floor. One she was in her cozy studio apartment, she walked to her bed and immediately fell face-first onto it. She knew herself well. Long nights were going to be spent reading into every detail she could find about her new fixation. She needed whatever rest she could get to prepare herself for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some ideas on where I want this to go, but I'm still planning it all out right now. Things might get a bit crazy, knowing me. Hence the explicit rating.
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> P.S. Zarina/Ghostface is a pairing that's underrated af and I think that's a sin tbh.


	2. Charity Event

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina gets talked into going to a charity event hosted by the mayor of Roseville with a small group of coworkers.

Zarina had been working at the Gazette for three days and things were already moving at a snail’s pace for her. She drummed her fingers against her desk as she stared into her computer screen. A half-finished article about a local charity event stared back. It would take place in Roseville Central Park. A few well-known celebrities would attend. A rising star singer known as Kate Denson would perform. All of the money raised would go to a select few charities agreed upon by the city council. As nice as it all was, she had little desire to write for it. The event was pandering to the masses and covering up the real issues going on in Roseville, and that left a sour taste in her mouth.

Her eyes flickered over to the newspaper articles off to her right. They were all on the Ghost Face. Three were written by Jed Olsen. The other two were from smaller newspaper businesses in town. Her boss had already warned her that she had to cover anything that was put in front of her. More events were going on in Roseville than the killer that stalked the streets.

As she took a sip from the cup of coffee one of her new coworkers brought her from the break room, the sound of a male voice behind her nearly had her choking on the hot liquid.

“So, are you-” He noticed the fact she was gagging and immediately stopped his train of thought. “Shit. Sorry.”

She gripped at her chest as she tried to settle down from her coughing fit. When she finally did, she looked at the man who’d startled her and was greeted by a familiar pair of green eyes. Jed. Damn. She hadn’t even heard him walk up. “I-it’s fine. You just startled me.” She tried to ignore the looks the other employees shot her way. At least she didn’t spell her drink everywhere. “Anyway, what were you trying to say?”

His look of concern changed to a smile. “Oh, I was wondering if you were planning on going to that charity event the mayor’s hosting.”

“Natalie is already going there for her piece, isn’t she?”

That had her coworker chuckling and shaking his head. “Not for your job, Zarina. Just as an attendee.”

She thought about that for a moment. It was on the coming Saturday, so she had off, but she planned to spend that day researching Roseville’s serial killer instead. “No, I wasn’t. I’m new to this city and don’t really know anyone around here. I guess I’d feel… Awkward if I went by myself.”

“Who said you have to go by yourself?” The smile he had on his face only grew wider at her puzzled expression. “A few of us are already planning on checking it out. You can carpool with us as long as you buy your own ticket.”

The potential of actually making friends in town sounded appealing. She smiled and nodded. “Sure, I’ll tag along. I’ll buy my ticket after I get off of work today. Thanks for the offer, Jed.” After he left, she happened to glance at the desk that’d been behind him and saw Natalie looking back with a smirk gracing her features. “What?”

“Nothing!” She was struggling to stifle her giggles. “It’s just nice to see you smile for once.”

Zarina felt her cheeks heating up. She quickly turned back to her computer and began typing away at her keyboard. The article was done within the hour and was emailed to one of the editors. Once it was sent, she picked up one of the articles on Ghost Face. The sound of a ping from her computer told her that she’d received a new email. She sighed and sat the article back down.  _ ‘Soon.’  _ She thought to herself as she turned back to her screen.

* * *

Saturday came before she knew it. Zarina slipped into plain clothes and styled her hair before heading out to the designated meetup for her coworkers. Five others were waiting near the van that they were all traveling together in. The only other woman there noticed Zarina walking over and waved. Once everyone was accounted for, they got into the vehicle and headed off.

Zarina sat in the back next to the woman, Alison. While the others talked and joked around, she resigned herself to just staring out of the window, watching as they passed streets and buildings. Compared to Brooklyn, Roseville seemed almost… Peaceful. It wasn’t a small town, but it was definitely a very comfortable one. If not for the serial killer prowling about, Zarina thought it might’ve been the perfect place to move to and start a family.

The van pulled into a designated lot for the event. It was already in full swing. A local band was playing at the gazebo, which had a small crowd gathered around it. There were games to entertain younger children. Food vendors had set up all around the place. The number of people in the park was almost overwhelming. Natalie somehow managed to spot them through the crowd and came over.

“Get any good shots?” Zarina asked as she gestured towards the camera in the middle-aged woman’s hands.

“Sure did. There’s so much going on here.” She clicked through her pictures with a smile on her face. “This is the biggest event since the fair that happened last summer. The mayor has truly outdone himself this time.”

Jed had been listening to the conversation and piped up. “Everyone needs a good distraction right now.”

Natalie nodded her head in agreement. “Mhm. We can’t always be focusing on the bad, right? It’s good to take a break.” Her eyes shifted towards Zarina. “I liked your article, by the way. The one on the event. I know you were less-than-enthused when you were told to write it, but you did a pretty good job.”

Zarina scratched the back of her neck. “Thanks. I tried.”

One of the male coworkers called Jed’s name and gestured for him to come over. He gave a brief wave to the two women and walked off to see what the guy wanted. Zarina watched him go. When she turned back to Natalie, she saw the same smirk the blonde had worn back at the office a few days prior.

Zarina cocked a brow. “What?”

“Nothing. I just find it amusing.” She glanced towards the man that’d just walked away. The one that called him was talking and pointing towards what looked to be a raffle. “Jed’s always been the quiet type. Too focused on his work. I was shocked when he said he’d go with them, and even more so when he asked  _ you  _ to come along.”

Zarina shrugged. “I told him that I don’t know anyone around here. I guess he thought this would be a good opportunity to change that.”

“Yeah, he came here about six or seven months ago and spent the first few just traveling between work and home. He probably knows what it feels like. Anyway, come on. I don’t have anything else to do until Kate’s performance. We should go look around.”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

The event lasted until 9 PM. Zarina spent most of it with her coworkers, who had warmed up to her fairly quickly. They walked around and talked about the past week. Jace - the one that had called Jed away earlier - fancied himself something of a jokester. He cracked a few jokes aimed towards one of the other men, Louis, which had the entire group laughing. Even Zarina found herself chuckling a few times at his antics.

The mayor took to the stage right before the event was to end to talk about it. He grinned wide as he called it a ‘roaring success’. After thanking the contributors, he wished everyone a safe journey home. The group piled back into the van and headed off. Each person was dropped off near their house, starting with Jed and ending with Zarina.

After saying goodnight to the driver, she started towards her apartment, keys in hand. The sun had gone down by then and the streets were mostly quiet. As she walked along, an odd feeling came over her. She recognized it from her youth. It was the anxiety that built up inside her whenever she felt she was being watched, and maybe even judged. She stopped and quickly looked around to see if anyone was there, but found the street empty. For the briefest of seconds, she thought she saw a tall shadow move off to her right.

_ ‘My mind is just playing tricks on me.'  _ She thought as she started walking again. It was a weak attempt at reassurance. Her heart started racing as that paranoia from before started to kick in once again. She adjusted her grasp on her keys so three of them rested between her fingers like a set of claws. Then she quickened her pace, ducked inside of the building, and practically bolted to the elevator that would bring her to her floor.

“Fuck,” She mumbled under her breath as she leaned against the back wall of the elevator. She’d been in Roseville for little more than a week and it was already getting to her. She tried to justify it as stress from an unfamiliar setting. “Get yourself together, Kassir.” Her keys were thrown onto the table once she got inside her apartment. She kicked her boots and pants off and then dove into bed. With her cheek planted on her pillow, she slowly drifted to sleep, leaving her worries behind in the process.

* * *

_ ‘Mayor Calls Recent Charity Event A “Roaring Success”!’  _

Zarina read through the article Natalie had written for the Monday paper before she got ready for work. A smile curved across her lips. She sat her empty coffee mug in the sink and walked over to her desk. A pair of scissors was pulled from a drawer, which she used to cut the article out. She pinned it to her corkboard, right next to her calendar and a photo Natalie sent the previous day of her and the five coworkers she went with. She looked at the picture of the smiling group for a moment before heading off to prepare for the day.

Maybe her stay in Roseville wasn’t going to be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of setup. The next chapters will probably be more interesting...


	3. Walleyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina agrees to meet Jed at a local bar to talk about their common interest: Ghost Face.

Zarina rarely ever gave herself breaks from her work. Even in the break room at her work, she had a notepad and several news articles sprawled out next to her lunch. She drummed her pen against the notepad as she chewed idly at her sandwich. The entire Ghost Face story was a confusing mess with very few decent leads and far too many dead ends. 

Charlie had given her grief for trying to play detective when he saw her there, but she simply snorted and ignored his words. When her work was interrupted yet again, she assumed he came back for round two. The scathing look she shot the man she noticed looming over her quickly vanished when she realized he wasn’t who she thought he was.

“Oh, Jed. Sorry, I thought you were…” She stopped herself and sighed. Everyone knew about the odd feud going on between her and the jaded editor that had targeted her from day one. She didn’t want to trouble anyone with it. “Nevermind. Did you need something?”

“Mind if I sit down?” She didn’t and he took a seat across from her. “You’re pretty enraptured with this Ghost Face guy, huh?” He asked when he glanced over her work.

“‘Enraptured’ would imply I feel something positive about what he does.” She shook her head and returned her attention to her clippings. “I’m just passionate about my work. About bringing people like him down.”

“I figured. Had you pegged for that type when I saw your piece on Clark Stevenson.”

Her eyes immediately shot back towards him. “You watched that?”

He nodded. “It was all over the news for weeks. I was working as a freelance journalist in Philadelphia at the time. Every newspaper in the city covered your work.” He held out his hands and put on his best reporter voice. “A young and daring woman from Brooklyn has taken down an infamous career criminal with a chilling documentary posted to her online blog.”

She placed a hand to her mouth and giggled. Hopefully, he wasn't able to notice the heat that rushed to her cheeks. “You make it sound more impressive than it was.”

He rested his arms on the table. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

She shouldn’t, and she knew that. It took every ounce of energy to push information out of Clark and compile it all into a riveting story. Still, her former mistakes ate at the back of her mind and made her doubt herself. She pushed the thoughts aside. “Alright then, mister Olsen.” She picked up the article she had on Ghost Face’s most recent attack and placed it down in front of him. Towards the bottom of the piece, his name was listed as the writer. “You sure have a way with words. Whenever this serial killer comes up, pretty much everyone who follows the case thinks back to your stories on him.”

“I’m flattered, but why are you telling me this?”

She raised a hand to stop him. “I’m getting to that.” She pushed her work to the side and placed her elbows on the table. The fingers on both hands laced together as she moved to rest her chin on top of them. Analytical brown eyes scanned over the man in front of her as she spoke again. “Your stories captivate audiences and bring attention to a serious problem, but they’re honestly just that. Stories. Like the ones you tell around a fire on a camping trip. I’m curious as to what you  _ actually  _ think about this guy and why you’re so inspired by him.”

“Are you trying to interview me or something?”

“No. I’d be recording this conversation if I was.” Her voice recorder was on her, but it remained off and clipped to her belt. “I just want to understand what drives you to write about him.”

Jed leaned in slightly, a smirk playing at his lips. “Well, I’d love to tell you all about that, but we’re kind of on a time crunch here.” Right. They were sitting in the break room and had to get back to work eventually. “Lucky for you, I think I have an idea.”

“And what would that be?”

“Why don’t we head to a nearby bar after work? We can talk about this then.”

A bar? Zarina raised a brow at his offer. “Are you asking me on a date?” As far as she knew, Jed was very much available, and she hadn’t been in a  _ ‘real’  _ relationship since high school. Still, she never thought he would… 

“A date? No. Don’t think of it like that.” He sat back. “Just two coworkers unwinding after a long day. I’ll happily tell you all about my thoughts on Ghost Face then.”

She chewed her lower lip. Just a casual meetup? That sounded more like it. “Yeah, we can do that. What bar are we going to?”

“Walleyes. It’s about three blocks from here.”

Her eyes widened at the name of the bar. “Isn’t that one of the places he…”

“Finds his victims?" He finished. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been going there since I moved here, but I’ve been frequenting it more lately. I consider the place one of my many inspirations. Don’t worry though. I’ll keep you safe.”

Safe? She dropped her hands and laughed quietly. “I can handle myself. I’m stronger than I look… But I’d love to go.”

“Alright. Meet you there at eight?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“See you then.” He stood up and walked to the door as she returned to her lunch.

* * *

Zarina had enough time to eat and change her clothes before leaving for the bar. She was surprised to see Jed already there the moment she stepped through the door. Maybe it was his casual demeanor and naturally messy style, but he struck her as the ‘fashionably late’ kind of guy. It wasn’t as though this was a special occasion. She pushed that thought aside and walked over to the bar.

He turned his attention from the bottle of beer in his hand to the woman that sat down next to him. “Glad you made it.”

“Did you think I was going to blow you off?”

He shrugged. “This place doesn’t get as much business as it used to. Everyone’s been too scared to come around.”

“Because they think they’ll wind up as Ghost Face’s next victim?”

“Exactly.”

The bartender briefly interrupted the conversation to ask if Zarina wanted a drink. Jed’s eyes had narrowed at the man, but Zarina just quickly ordered what she wanted and returned her attention to the man next to her. “So, do you have an answer for me?”

“About what I think of Ghost Face?” He asked, to which she nodded, eyes locked intently on his. He shifted in his stool as he thought for a few seconds. “Well, my opinion isn’t too different from anyone else’s. I think he’s tactful and dangerous. His murders are always premeditated like he spends weeks - or even months - planning them down to the last detail.”

“And he makes a show of them,” Zarina chimed in. “He wants the world to see his crimes and fear his name- or rather fear the name  _ Ghost Face.”  _ In a sick way, the media  _ was  _ feeding into what the man wanted.

“Mhm. See? You’re catching on.” He smirked as he lifted his bottle to his lips.

“Catching onto what?” Her drink was placed in front of her. She only spared a brief few seconds to glance towards the bartender and smile before returning her gaze to Jed.

“Catching onto what  _ ‘inspires’  _ me about this guy.” He rested an arm against the bar’s countertop. “You gotta admit that a serial killer taking down six people over the course of a month and a half makes for an amazing story.”

“Except it’s not just a  _ story,”  _ She reminded him as she shook her head. “Six people have died for this man’s sick pleasure.”

“And isn’t that why the people need to hear about him? They need to know the truth about this man and about what he does. I mean, you don’t see the police giving any formal statements. They only recently revealed the murders were connected, and you wanna know why?” Jed moved to grab something from inside of his jacket. Zarina looked worried at first but calmed down when he pulled out a tape. “I was the one who  _ publicly _ connected them with this.”

“A videotape?”

That had him chuckling. “Not just  _ any  _ videotape, doll.” Did he  _ really  _ just call her that? “This is from a home security system that caught him in the act very briefly.” He looked the piece of dark plastic over. “Took a bit of convincing, but I managed to secure a copy of it for one of my first articles on him.”

_ “‘Ghost Face Caught On Tape’.  _ I remember now. Three people came forward with sightings of the man in the mask after that article was published… One of them died two days later.” From what she could remember, it was also the one that brought Jed’s stories into the spotlight. She finally picked up her glass and took a sip.

“So you _have_ been paying attention.” He held the videotape out to her. “You can borrow it if you want. See what’s on it for yourself.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve already watched it more times than I can count. Besides, maybe it’ll be a good addition to that documentary I know you’re planning on making for him.”

She wasn't surprised that he knew she planned on making that. She reached out and took the tape from him. “Yeah, I suppose it would be. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She placed it down and looked him over. “You know, if you want, I _could_ interview you one of these days. I think it would be a nice addition to my blog.”

“Really now? I’ll have to get back to you on that.” Well, it wasn’t a direct ‘no’.

The rest of the night was spent casually chatting. Jed was a natural charmer. It was strange how people said he rarely came out of his shell. Zarina was… Captivated, in a way, but wouldn’t admit it to herself. Relationships with coworkers weren’t exactly the greatest, especially with ones she hardly knew. She enjoyed his company regardless.

After a few hours, they decided it was time to head out. Zarina waved goodbye as he walked to his car before getting into hers. She was never much of a drinker and had refrained from getting too tipsy. Her apartment wasn’t too far at least.

The moment she walked through her door, she immediately went to her TV and plugged in her father’s old videotape player. She inserted the tape Jed had given her and sat back. What she saw disturbed her in more ways than one.

A man in a dark-colored leather coat and pure white mask casually walked into view. The video wasn’t in color, but she was able to make out splotches on the mask. Blood? What he did next confirmed her suspicions. He stopped and looked up at the camera. At first, he just stood there, staring into the lens through the hollow sockets in his mask. Then he raised his hand, which held a deadly-looking tactical knife that was dripping blood. The other came up soon after and he curled his fingers in a subtle, chilling wave. After that, he walked off-screen and presumably vanished into the night.

Zarina sat back, eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to process what she saw. The tape was only a few seconds long, but it shook her to the core. She reached up and pressed the eject button on her video player and grabbed the tape. It was brought over to her desk and placed inside one of the drawers.

She curled up in bed, unable to get what she saw out of her mind. It was one thing to read about murderers and look at crime scene photos. It was a completely different thing to watch them in action. For a brief moment, her mind flickered back to the first time she saw a murderer that was caught on camera. What Clark had done to her father was still seared in the back of her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to force the memory away.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it just as much as I did writing it. :)


	4. Fresh Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina tags along with Jed to interview the parents of the latest Ghost Face victim for the Gazette. Later on, she spots a strange figure watching her while she's at a park with a friend.

Zarina tapped her nails against the back of her notepad as she and Jed pulled up to a house in the downtown area of Roseville. It belonged to the parents of Ghost Face’s seventh victim, who had been killed two days prior. She had only been working at the Gazette for about two weeks but was allowed to go along to interview the family with Jed. Even from outside, she felt the air of dread around the place. A mother and father had lost their twenty-year-old son in one of the worst ways imaginable. It twisted her gut into knots just thinking about it.

“Nervous?” Jed asked, which drew her attention away from the house.

“I’ve interviewed a lot of people in my life. Some of them were even affected by murderers just like these two…” She sighed. “Their wounds are still fresh though. I honestly can’t even believe they agreed to this so quickly.”

“His father called the editor-in-chief this morning. He said that the family wants their son’s story told.”

As sad as it was to say, an article written about one of the victims would definitely bring attention, and attention meant more sales. She knew the real motives for the piece, but she was still somewhat grateful that it was happening. “Maybe it’ll inspire the police to crack down. There have been seven deaths in almost two months and they still don’t even have any solid leads.” She reached for the car door and opened it. Both she and Jed exited the car and made their way towards the front porch. Zarina rang the doorbell. After a moment, the door opened up.

The girl who answered couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old. “Hello?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Grief was written all across her face.

Zarina spoke first. “Hello. We’re from the Roseville Gazette. Mister and missus Andrews wanted to speak with us. Are they here right now?” As she was saying that, another figure appeared from the nearby hallway.

“Let them in, dear.” An older woman said as she walked over. The girl stepped to the side and allowed the two interviewers inside.

“Are you Laura Andrews?” Jed asked as he and Zarina entered the house.

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m Jed, and this is Zarina.”

Laura nodded and gestured for the two to follow her into a nearby room, which turned out to be the kitchen. A man that looked to be about Laura’s age was already sitting at the table. He looked over at them and offered a weak smile. Laura took a seat next to him and Zarina and Jed sat across from them.

The two listened carefully as the Andrews talked about their son. Zarina jotted down notes as they went. Death was already a painful subject, but it was even worse when a person with such a promising life ahead of them was snuffed out before their time.

“He always wanted to help others,” Laura told them. “He volunteered at a nearby homeless shelter and the senior center my mother lives at whenever he could. He wanted to go to college, but he was always too conflicted over leaving Roseville. He truly loved this place.” She used a tissue to dab away her tears. “Maybe we should’ve tried harder to convince him to go.”

“You can’t blame yourself for this, ma’am,” Zarina told her.

“I know, but I-” She choked back a sob, which had her husband placing his hand over hers in an attempt to comfort her. “I can’t help but feel as though we could have prevented this somehow.”

Zarina sighed and nodded. “I understand how you feel. Someday, the madman that did this to your son will be brought to justice.” She knew Laura’s plight all-too-well. It left her soul aching. “I know it won’t be a replacement for your son’s life, but…”

“It’s the best we can hope for. I understand.”

Laura’s husband, Thomas, finally spoke up as he got out of his chair. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but my wife and I need to grieve.”

“That’s perfectly understandable, mister Andrews.” Zarina stood up and Jed soon followed. Thomas led the two of them to the door and simply gave them a solemn look when they said goodbye. When Zarina looked towards her partner, she saw how oddly blank his face was. She knew he had an odd habit of not showing emotion under those sorts of circumstances, but ultimately figured he was just putting on a brave face. She, on the other hand, couldn’t even try to do that. “I guess we have enough for the story.”

“Yeah. C’mon. Let’s get back to the Gazette.” He walked back to his car and Zarina quickly followed behind him.

Alison had walked up to Zarina when she returned to her desk. She struck up a pleasant conversation that eased her coworker's thoughts. When she asked if Zarina wanted to head out to the park for some fresh air after work, she was all for it.

* * *

The end of their workday eventually came. Zarina and Alison walked out of the building and got into the former’s car. She started the car and drove off. Her new friend’s presence was comforting in a way. The bubbly redhead always wore a smile and had a twinkle of innocence in her bright blue eyes. It complemented her soft features and warm voice well. It was hard for anyone to stay angry or upset when she was around.

“Soooo…” Alison began. “You and Jed, huh?”

Zarina shot a confused glance at her before returning her eyes to the road. “What do you mean?” Hopefully, she wasn’t hinting at what Zarina thought she was.

“Don’t play dumb, Z. Everyone at the office sees how the two of you act around each other. I even overheard him asking you to go to Walleyes the other day.” Damn. She was _far_ too attentive. No wonder the editor-in-chief liked her so much.

Zarina felt heat rising to her cheeks. “We have a mutual interest. I was trying to pick his brain while we were on break, but we didn’t have a lot of time, so he wanted to go there and talk about Ghost Face with me. We had a few drinks and a friendly conversation, and that was _it.”_

The redhead giggled. _“Suuuure.”_

“I _swear_ that’s all that happened.”

“Whatever you say.”

Zarina wanted to groan. Luckily, Alison dropped the topic. She pulled into a parking spot and got out of her car. The fresh air was nice. Alison followed behind her as she walked into the park.

“So… I know you came here to look into Ghost Face, but are you going to stay after he gets caught?”

Zarina looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, I don’t know yet. I’ve been to several states to look into other cases, but I never _moved_ to them. I spent my entire life in Brooklyn though. Maybe Roseville will be a nice change of pace.” Well, nice _after_ the resident murderer was caught. “Did you grow up here?”

Alison shook her head. “No, I’m from Tallahassee. My parents and younger siblings still live there, but I decided to move out a little while back and have a fresh start. I’ve been here for about two years now.” She sighed and looked around. “Roseville was a peaceful place until Ghost Face came around. I can’t wait until we can all just get back to our normal lives and not have to look over our shoulders all the time.”

Zarina nodded. “I can get that.” She knew Ghost Face didn’t discriminate. He’d killed two couples, a single mother, a middle-aged man, and now someone who was barely out of his teens. He wanted people to know that they’d never be safe, no matter who they were. In a sick and twisted way, that was ingenious.

The two spent the remainder of the day casually walking through the park and talking about recent articles in the Gazette. It was getting dark before they finally decided to call it a night and go home. Alison’s house wasn’t too far away, but Zarina still insisted on driving her there, so they walked back to the car together. Just as Zarina was about to unlock the doors, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. When she looked over, it felt as though her heart nearly stopped beating. A figure dressed in a black cloak and white mask peered from the dark alleyway not too far from the car. A hand instinctively went to her back pocket and wrapped around her folding knife.

“Zarina,” Alison mumbled. “We need to get out of here. _Now.”_

She knew the smart choice would’ve been to get into the car with Alison and floor it. She could have her friend call the police to report the sighting. That, however, was not what Zarina ended up doing. The masked man waved his hand and dashed into the alleyway. Instead, she chose to pull out her knife and pursue the masked man. She ignored her friend when she called out her name and begged her to come back. No. She was going to catch that bastard.

He spared a glance back at her before turning a corner. She pushed herself to stay close on his heels. The bastard was fast. As she went, she felt as though something was… Off. He wore the mask, but his outfit was completely different. It wasn’t a jacket made from pure leather with thick tassels hanging around it. Instead, it was a hooded cloak that looked to be made from black cloth.

The pursuit ended when he took a wrong turn and nearly slammed right into a brick wall. He quickly turned around and watched as Zarina approached. She used her thumb to reveal her knife’s blade before holding it out to him. Going toe to toe with a serial killer was probably the stupidest thing she’d ever done in her life, but she wasn’t prepared to let him go. Hopefully, Alison had called for help.

“Wait!” The man cried out as he backed up against the wall. He reached for his mask and ripped it off. “I’m not Ghost Face, I swear! I-I got dared to do this! Please, d-don’t hurt me!”

Zarina wasn’t able to get a good look at the guy’s face, but he sounded young - probably not even out of his teens yet. Any actual killer wouldn’t have just given up the way he did, and the kid sounded like he was scared shitless. She stopped walking and just stared him down, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

The sound of two sets of footsteps echoed throughout the alleyway. Zarina didn’t dare to take her eyes off of the kid, but she heard Alison calling out to her. “Over here!” She responded.

“Zarina! My God… What were you thinking?!” Alison didn’t have too much time to scold her reckless friend before the person that was following grabbed her shoulder and urged her to get behind him.

“What’s going on here?” The stranger asked as he walked over, hand reaching for what Zarina quickly realized was a gun.

“Please, don’t shoot!” The cornered kid begged as he dropped the mask and raised his hands in the air. The police officer wasted no time with getting him on his knees and in a pair of cuffs. Soon enough, he got dragged out of the alley by his arm.

Zarina and Alison bickered as they walked behind the officer. Alison chided her friend for being stupid enough to chase after a murderer. She went on a spiel about how she was so lucky that the idiotic kid wasn’t _actually_ Ghost Face. Who knows what would’ve happened if he was? After giving a quick statement to the officer, Zarina watched as his partner pushed the imitator into the back of their police cruiser. Then she headed off to her car with a still very peeved Alison following behind her.

Later that night, it finally struck her just how goddamn _stupid_ that move was. The worst part about it was that she knew she’d probably do it again if she came face to face with the actual killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alison ships it. Zarina is a moron. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	5. Admirer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The imposter Ghost Face is the only thing anyone at work can talk about, much to Zarina's dismay. Later on, Alison comes across an interesting discovery...

The day after the fake Ghost Face was arrested, there was a segment about it on the news. That was par for the course, but the thing that bothered Zarina was the fact they tried to twist it into some story about a copycat. That kid didn’t have the guts to pull off any  _ actual  _ murder, but now the threat of something like that happening fueled the city’s paranoia. She scoffed and pressed the power button on her remote.

It seemed that no one in the office could get their mind off the subject of the imposter Ghost Face. A few of her coworkers made light of the situation. One even dared to tease her about the fact she’d actually  _ chased  _ after him. Jace found it amusing. Alison was still peeved. Zarina’s other friend from the charity event, Nathan, mostly looked concerned. Louis and Natalie were both firmly convinced she had a death wish. Jed simply remained quiet and worked, but would occasionally shake his head or roll his eyes.

Jace was leading the pack. The lanky blond straddled the back of his office chair and used his one foot to occasionally swivel it from side to side. “Did you guys hear that his bail was already paid?” He asked. “That kid must have rich parents or something.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Alison replied. “He apparently told Zarina that he was dared to pull that stunt. Some of those spoiled rich kids can be really stupid sometimes.”

Nathan gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, they think they’re invincible because their parents always see them as angels.”

“Figures, since they think they can get away with that stuff. I’m just glad he didn’t try to attack anyone.” Alison cut her eyes at Zarina. “Especially when someone so  _ eagerly  _ offers herself to him on a silver platter.”

Jace chuckled. “Gotta admit that Z’s a badass. I don’t know many people that would willingly chase after a potential serial killer.” He glanced over to Jed and cracked a wide smile. “Your girl has some guts.”

“I’m not  _ his  _ girl, Jason,” Zarina hissed. “Do all of you seriously still gossip about that stuff like you’re still in high school?”

He shrugged. “Hey, workplace gossip is amusing.” Of  _ course,  _ that immature oaf would find it amusing.

The group quickly quieted down and got back to work when their boss came out and scolded them. While piecing together an article, she happened to glance up and noticed Jed looking at her. He wore a subtle smirk. She just furrowed her brow and returned her attention to her computer. God only knew what that man was thinking. He probably just found the entire conversation that happened previously amusing. The day came and went without much more excitement. Soon enough, she was packing up and ready to head home.

“Got any plans tonight?” Jed asked. She looked up and saw him using his hands to prop himself up as he leaned over her desk. When did he get over there?

“Yeah. I never got the chance to examine my notes from yesterday. After everything that happened at the park, I was way too exhausted to do anything.” She sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair. “Can you believe people are trying to say Ghost Face is going to inspire copycats? That kid only had a camera on him to tape his stupid prank. All this is going to do is confuse investigators and lead them on wild goose chases every time some idiot gets the bright idea to stalk the streets at night in that mask.”

“Well then that’s their problem, isn’t it?” Fair enough. He leaned in further. The look in his eyes grew a little more intense as he examined the woman before him. “You know, I’ll agree with Jace on one thing; you were pretty damn bold to chase that guy, doll.” Again with that pet name. She was about to tell him off for it, but he continued before she had the chance. “Do you think you’d do that again if you came face to face with the  _ real  _ one?”

She paused at his question. The responsible answer would’ve been ‘no’, but part of her was conflicted… “I don’t know. I was lucky that kid  _ wasn’t  _ the real Ghost Face. I suppose it might depend on the circumstances. I’ll have to get back to you about that.”

He nodded. “Understandable.”

“Anyway, why did you ask me if I had plans?”

“Just curious.”

She examined him carefully. His intentions were always hidden behind a smirk or blank expression, but that never stopped her from trying to figure out what they were. If she were to be completely honest, it captivated her in a way. He was like a puzzle she wanted to solve. She’d never admit to herself, but she liked that. “Okay. Well, have a good night then, Jed.”

“You too, Zarina.” He stood upright again and moved to go back to his desk.

She finished getting ready and got up to leave. When she walked over to the door, she saw Alison and Jace standing just by it. They both wore devious grins. Good lord. She might’ve had trouble reading Jed, but those two couldn’t hide their thoughts even if they tried.

“He sure likes to find any reason to banter with you,” Alison commented.

“Maybe he just likes friendly conversation,” Zarina responded as she shrugged. “Seems like I’m the only one who’s willing to discuss Ghost Face with him at any time.” Sure, that serial killer was on  _ everyone’s  _ minds, but most of them treated him like a taboo subject - like he’d just pop up out of nowhere Bloody Mary style if they said his name too many times.

Jace cackled. “Or maybe he just likes-”

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ finish that thought, Jason,” Zarina warned. She tried to ignore the fact her face had reddened. Those two were going to be the death of her. They continued giggling like a pair of schoolgirls as they said their goodbyes. She just sighed and briskly walked out the door.

When Zarina got to her apartment, she immediately sat down at her desk and got to work. She grabbed her notebook and began transferring what she’d written down onto a text document on her computer. Once they were done, she looked up at the articles on Ghost Face that were pinned on the corkboard behind her desk. Several of them had been about previous victims, but never went into complete detail. She could only hope the one Jed had written on the latest victim could turn some heads. It was set to be published in the next day’s paper.

She brushed her fingers over one of the articles written about the mother that had been the unfortunate first victim of Ghost Face. Her body had been found by her fourteen-year-old daughter after she was dropped off from a weekend at her father’s house. Footage from a surveillance camera a block from the mother’s house showed her being tailed by a masked figure while walking back home from an impromptu grocery store run the night of her murder.

A disgruntled ex-boyfriend of hers had been the primary suspect, but he was ruled out when that same masked man killed a couple while he was still in prison. It was as though Ghost Face  _ wanted  _ the police to know that guy wasn’t the killer. Zarina’s eyes wandered to the drawer that held the tape Jed had given her. That was from the residence of that unfortunate couple.

After that, Ghost Face had just started killing almost indiscriminately, but each murder was carefully thought out. Every single one showed clear signs of premeditation, but the level of violence was akin to a crime of passion. It left everyone scratching their heads. From what anyone could tell, Ghost Face didn’t have a normal motive or any kind of agenda he was trying to push. He just loved the chaos he caused… 

But maybe there  _ was  _ something more?

Zarina cursed under her breath. She wanted to turn to her blog and make a post asking if anyone could make connections. As she formulated it in her head, a blip from her computer caught her attention. She tabbed over to her personal email and found one from Alison. It was simply titled  _ ‘found something’. _ She clicked on it and read the message:

_ ‘Looks like you got yourself an admirer, Z. I happened upon this a few minutes ago.’ _

There was an attached file. She downloaded it and opened it up. It was an article clipping on her from some small newspaper in Philadelphia. Alright, fine. There had been plenty of those. She skimmed it over, but her jaw just about dropped to her lap when she saw the name of the person who had written it.

Jed Olsen.

Several emails were exchanged between her and Alison where she borderline interrogated her friend on how she found that piece. She'd apparently seen it before and something Jed had mentioned the other day reminded her of it, so she dug it up from some archive site she used. Zarina tabbed back to the article to read it more closely but stopped yet again when she saw the first sentence.

_ ‘A young and daring woman from Brooklyn has taken down an infamous career criminal with a chilling documentary posted to her online blog.’ _

He’d quoted that to her verbatim just a few days before. She figured he must’ve seen it from  _ somewhere,  _ but never expected that  _ he  _ was the one who wrote it. After reading over the rest of it, she sighed and exited out of the image. Alison was really grasping at straws and Zarina made sure to tell her as much. It was a hot topic for a couple of weeks and he was a journalist. Still, it was weird that he never told her, despite the fact he clearly still remembered it.

Whatever. That didn’t matter. She returned to her blog post and started writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another in-between chapter before everything kicks off again. Poor gal's never gonna live this down.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!


	6. A Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina wakes up to a chilling news story and decides to look into getting her hands on a piece of evidence left with a recent Ghost Face victim.

Zarina had woken up with a dull ache in her head. When she pushed herself up from the hard surface she’d been laying on, she realized she’d fallen asleep at her desk. She rubbed her eyes and managed to bump her mouse in the progress, which lit her computer screen up. That post she started writing last night was nowhere near finished. Screw it. She stood up and got ready for the day.

She grabbed her TV remote and turned it on before she started getting dressed. It was almost always on the news channel. As she reached for a shirt from her dresser, what she heard had her immediately stopping and looking at the screen.

The teenager she had caught the other night in the alleyway had been rushed to the hospital in critical condition earlier in the morning. He was found on the steps of the Roseville Police Department with a cassette tape lying next to him - who the  _ hell  _ still used cassette tapes? No comments from investigators at that time. Of course.

She clutched onto the thin white t-shirt she had grabbed from her dresser as she carefully debated on what she wanted to do. That kid was  _ undoubtedly  _ another victim of Ghost Face, but he was left alive? That bastard was sending a message, and she wanted to know what it was… But how? 

Actually, she knew  _ exactly  _ how she could find out.

She sat her shirt down and walked over to her computer to send an email to the person she knew could get his hands on evidence from the police.

* * *

“Got your message.” Jed’s voice had Zarina looking up from her notebook. “I’m guessing you saw the story about that kid on the news?”

She shoved her notebook and pen into her bag and stood up. “Yeah. That’s why I wanted to meet you. Ghost Face left that boy alive for a reason.”

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “And you want to figure out why, don’t you?” She gave a nod as confirmation. “Well, lucky for you that the boss is probably going to want an article written about this. If that kid is stabilized and able to talk, he might be able to score an interview with him or his parents… But that might take a while.”

“I’ve gotten unreleased statements from police officers before,” Zarina told him. “Chances are they’ll send one of their detectives to get that from him the moment they can, but we don’t know how long that will be… Or if they’ll ever get the chance. There  _ is  _ something we can try to get our hands on in the meantime though.”

“That cassette tape they found by him?”

“Exactly!” She grinned. “I get the feeling it would help out greatly if we could secure a copy of that recording somehow…”

“They’re probably analyzing it for fingerprints or something right now. It’ll be pretty difficult to get ahold of until they throw it into the evidence locker with everything else. I  _ might  _ be able to pull a few strings though. Why don’t you meet me over at Walleyes tonight?”

“Sure, I can do that. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem, doll.” The glare she gave him only had him chuckling.

She watched as he turned to leave, but something came to mind before she started walking away as well. “Hey, Jed…”

He turned his head and looked back at her. “Hmm?”

“I found out something last night after I got home from work.” That had him turning back around completely as she continued. “You said you were living in Philadelphia during the time I released that documentary on Clark, right?”

“I was, yeah.”

“I found that piece you wrote on me.”

“You did?” Another chuckle. “I’ll admit that your little tale was inspiring. It’s not every day we see someone take the risks you did to bring a bad guy down.” He slowly walked forward as he spoke until they were standing just barely a foot apart. Zarina felt her heart skip a beat as she looked into his deep green eyes. Part of her wasn’t sure if she wanted to back away or get even closer. Hearing him speak again temporarily distracted her from those thoughts. “You’ve got the potential to make a lot of change happen in this world. I like that.”

“I-I…” She wasn’t completely paying attention to his words anymore. Something about the way he was looking at her had her heart racing. His typically unreadable expression had cracked slightly. She saw the glint of mischief in his eyes and the way a smirk played at his lips. It was like he was waiting for her to react. Maybe he  _ wanted  _ her to get closer? She  _ really  _ wanted to. Everything about him from his fierce gaze right down to the faint scent of his cologne attracted her at that moment. Maybe she could just…

“You okay, Zarina?” His words had her instantly snapping back to reality.

She staggered as she took a few steps back. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, I just…” There was no way she could manage to explain what just happened without making a fool of herself. “Nevermind. Anyway, I should get going.”

He nodded. “I’ve got some calls to make anyway. Want to meet at Walleyes around eight like we did last time?”

“I can do that. See you then, Jed.” She turned and started a brisk pace towards her apartment. The park was only a short distance away so she hadn't bothered with bringing her car. As she walked, she brought a hand up to comb through her hair. What had even happened? Why did she want to… She put a stop to that train of thought immediately and shook her head. “Don’t even  _ think  _ about it, Z.” She mumbled to herself as she walked. Chances were she just misinterpreted everything.

* * *

Jed was waiting for her as she walked through the door of Walleyes. He’d been talking to the bartender and only noticed her approaching when it was pointed out to him. He looked back and smiled as she walked over and sat down next to him. Zarina ordered her drink immediately to avoid another unwanted interruption like the last time.

“So, any news?” She asked, wanting to get straight down to business. The encounter from the park was still fresh on her mind and she didn’t want to risk the chance of that happening again.

Jed leaned his arm against the bar’s countertop. “Well, it’s like I figured; the tape is still being processed right now. I’ve got a few people on the inside that have helped me secure a few key pieces of evidence in the past - like what I gave you before - but they can only do so much.”

“So we won’t be able to get our hands on it?”

He scoffed. “You underestimate me, doll. I didn’t say we  _ couldn’t  _ get it. I’m just saying it’s going to take a little time - just a few days at most. Nothing short of breaking into the RPD’s evidence locker and stealing it is going to get it to us any faster.” He looked her over. “And while I know you can get a little brave when it comes to something you’re passionate about, I don’t have you pegged as the criminal type.”

Zarina gnawed at her lower lip. It was pretty clear that he didn’t know her all that well, given the fact she nearly stooped to similar acts to get the information she wanted about a case in the past. Nothing ever came close to breaking into a police department though. That was far too risky, even for her. “Fair enough.”

“If we’re lucky, my man might be able to burn a copy and give it to me by Monday or Tuesday.”

“That works.” Her drink was brought over to her and she thanked the bartender before turning back to Jed. “There is something I’m curious about though.”

“And what would that be?”

“I know you have a hand in just about every article written on Ghost Face at the Roseville Gazette, but this doesn’t really concern your work there right now. Why did you agree to help me out with this?”

He raised a brow and let out a chuckle like he thought she was completely ridiculous for asking that question. She found herself wanting to look away from him out of embarrassment, but he spoke before she had the chance. “Well, it  _ is  _ going to tie into my work eventually. The story of the very first surviving victim of Ghost Face is going to make a great headline. Having that tape will only make it better.” She giggled and shook her head at his comment. From everything she had heard about Jed, that response wasn’t the slightest bit surprising. His expression turned from amused to quizzical. “What?”

“That’s just like you, now isn’t it?” She rested her elbow on the bar and propped the side of her face up with her palm. She wanted to revel in that look of confusion for as long as she could. “I’ve dealt with a few columnists in my time. Your sort only cares about wanting to be the one that makes the headlines with some hot off the press piece that will blow everyone’s minds.” For someone so closed off, she sure could read him like a book at times.

“And you’re not after that?” He asked. She simply responded with a shake of her head. He leaned in and smirked. “Alright then. If you’re not after the headlines, then what  _ are  _ you after? What makes the work you do any different than what someone like me does?”

“That’s pretty simple, actually.” She returned his smug expression with a cocky grin. “While you’re out chasing headlines and trying to captivate an audience with your ghost stories, I’m spreading the truth about what’s  _ really  _ going on behind all the sensationalism.”

“You better watch yourself. That ego of yours might get you in trouble someday.”

“You’re not the first to tell me that.” She couldn’t even count the number of times she had something similar thrown at her on both hands. Maybe she did have an inflated sense of self-importance, but she couldn’t care less. To her, that only meant she was passionate about her work.

Another night of drinks and pleasant banter. Zarina was tempted to ask him if they could do it more frequently and for different reasons than discussing Ghost Face. To her surprise, he was the one who asked first. She felt she agreed to the idea a bit too eagerly. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. She left the bar that night with a small slip of paper that held a very specific set of ten numbers on it. At least she didn’t have to email him anymore.

Zarina got into her car and sat there for a few minutes, staring at the piece of paper in her hands. She’d sworn up and down to her coworkers that nothing was  _ ever  _ going to happen between her and Jed. A workplace romance never appealed to her. All it would do was make things tense if it went south. Yet, there she sat, contemplating on whether or not she wanted to break her own rules just once - just to get a taste of that feeling she got back at the park again.

She was a conflicted mess. "What are you even _thinking?"_ She hissed to herself under her breath as she shoved the paper into her purse and started up her car’s engine. As she backed up out of the parking spot, she noticed Jed leaning against the trunk of his car, watching her with his usual smile. He waved at her and she waved back before leaving the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll go down with this ship and no one can stop me.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	7. The Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina is confronted by Charlie at work over what happened to Ghost Face's living victim. Later on, Jed sends her a copy of the recording she wanted to get her hands on.

Monday morning.

Zarina had managed to finish her post about Ghost Face’s seventh victim the previous night and was scrolling through the comments before work. There were more than a few mixed opinions and heated debates going on, which was to be expected from a post that called for people to speak their minds on the subject at hand. Seeing things through the eyes of other people gave her a new outlook on the situation.

She exited out of the page and stood up. Time for another day.

The office was, yet again, abuzz with the recent events surrounding Ghost Face. They all mutually agreed it was a message sent by him, but why would he leave the kid alive? He’d been stabilized in the hospital and was expected to make a full recovery. Nothing vital had been damaged. No bones were broken. Just a severe - yet not lethal - loss of blood and a concussion. Ghost Face  _ wanted  _ him to stay alive. Zarina found herself distracted from the research she was doing to listen in on the chatter, but her attention was brought away from both when someone approached her desk.

“So, is our neighborhood vigilante proud of herself?” She looked up to see Charlie with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl etched across his boney features.

She blinked a few times as she tried to figure out what he was going on about. “For what..?”

“That kid would’ve been just fine if you hadn’t gone chasing after him.” Oh for  _ fuck’s sake. _ The entire office had fallen silent when they noticed the conversation going on.

“So you expect me to just sit there while some guy wearing the mask of a local serial killer runs off to do God only knows what? For all I knew, he  _ was  _ the real Ghost Face.”

“For someone who has apparently been dedicating most of her time to catching Ghost Face, you’re pretty ignorant to the way he operates. Didn’t you think it was at least  _ somewhat  _ out of character for him to stand there and taunt you with other witnesses around?” He had a point, even though she hated to admit it.

“I made a mistake in the heat of the moment and learned from it. What are you trying to get out of telling me what I already know?” She kept her expression firm and her voice level. If he was trying to get a rise out of her, it wasn’t going to work. She’d dealt with far worse verbal abuse from her detractors before. Some condescending rant from a jaded old editor for a newspaper company couldn’t hold a candle to what she had faced in the past.

“I’m just saying that  _ if  _ that kid had died, his blood wouldn’t just be on the hands of your latest obsession, Zarina. It would be on  _ yours  _ as well.”

“A very astute observation, Charles. If you’re done, I’d like to get back to my work.” It was clear that her reaction wasn’t what he was going for. She returned her attention to her computer screen as he silently walked off. After he left, she propped her elbow up on her desk and pressed her thumb and middle finger to her temples. Bastard. Luckily, everyone else just quietly returned to their work.

During her break, Zarina sat down and poked at her salad with her fork. She didn’t have all her notes and article clippings splayed out in front of her like normal. They all remained tucked away in the binder she used to organize anything. If she were to be honest, she just didn’t have the energy to even think about him.

“Mind if I sit down?” Zarina looked up to see Alison. She nodded and silently gestured to the chair across from her. The redhead placed her food down and took a seat. “You really shouldn’t beat yourself up over what that guy said. No one could have guessed what Ghost Face was going to do to that poor boy.”

“I don’t care about what Charlie thinks of me or my actions.”

“Well, you should at least report him. That was borderline-”

Her eyes shot up from her barely touched food to the woman sitting across from her. “I’m not going to do that either. He’s  _ intentionally  _ trying to get a rise out of me. I’ve had to deal with people doing that all my life. Going after him isn’t the answer.”

“Then what  _ are  _ you going to do? Because we all know he won’t stop.”

Zarina reached for her water bottle and unscrewed the cap. “He’ll screw up in front of the wrong person eventually, Ali. I’ve got other things to deal with right now and stirring up drama at work is just going to distract me from that.”

“Alright, so screw anything having to do with Charlie then.” She glanced towards Zarina’s binder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you  _ not  _ absorbed in your research on Ghost Face. What’s going on?”

After taking a drink, she responded. “I think I’ve just been distracted all day. A lot of stuff has happened over the past week. It’s hard to keep track of everything.” She let out a brief, dry laugh. “I’m used to reporting on criminals and murderers that were already dead or locked away. I had almost all of the materials I needed for them right at my fingertips.” She reached over to her binder and flipped it open. “Ghost Face is the first  _ active  _ criminal I’ve pursued this heavily since Clark Stevenson, and even he was behind bars when I made that documentary.”

“So you’re stepping outside of your comfort zone?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it that. This is just new to me. I dove in headfirst like I always do with my projects, but I think I just need more time to adjust.” That sounded way too close to an admission of defeat to her. She hated those words as they rolled off her tongue. Sadly, they were completely true.

Alison gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well, if you need a break to clear that overworked brain of yours, I might have just the thing that could help.”

“And what would that be?”

She leaned in and lowered her voice. “It’s Natalie’s thirty-fifth birthday and we’re all planning a party for her. I was going to tell you this morning, but Charlie… Nevermind. Why don’t you join us? There will be drinks and music and cute guys to ogle at… I think Louis talked Jed into coming as well.”

“Are you  _ really  _ trying to use Jed as a selling point for me to go to a party?” Zarina groaned as her friend giggled. “I was going to agree to go anyway. I think I could use a night away from anything involving Ghost Face."

“That’s the spirit! I’ll send you the details after I get home from work.”

* * *

That day at work was long and arduous. Zarina found that she lacked her usual motivation for anything. She managed to finish off her research on the topic she was supposed to cover and got started on drafting the actual piece, but that was about all she was able to do. At least she still had the next day to finish everything off.

When she got back home, she had a few emails waiting for her. One of them was from Alison, who delivered on her promise to send details about the party. Another one was from Jed. She opened it to find an audio file attached and instantly knew what he had sent her. That was sooner than expected. She downloaded the file but hesitated when she went to open it. Her mind briefly flashed back to the videotape he’d given her a few weeks back. If that had been enough to freak her out, she had no idea what her reaction would be to whatever that audio recording contained. Curiosity eventually overwhelmed her and she opened it anyway.

_ “Hello there, dear listeners at the RPD,”  _ A man greeted. The audio quality wasn’t the greatest, but Zarina was still able to tell he was talking through some type of voice modulator. That wasn’t a surprise.  _ “You all must’ve already figured out who sent you this tape by this point. Yes, I am the ghost you’ve been chasing for the past few months. The REAL one.”  _ His emphasis on the word ‘real’ had her shuddering.

The sound of rustling fabric was heard. He must’ve been moving around. There was also something else in the background that Zarina couldn’t quite make out. She strained her ears, but he was already speaking again, which drowned out the background noise.

_ “It’s come to my attention that I might have inspired a few of the local youths to dare their friends into wearing the mask and stalking the streets. Let me make it perfectly clear that this wasn’t my intention. I don't like copycats." _

So  _ that’s  _ what this was about then? Why hadn’t she ever thought about that? She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid, but the sound of him slapping his hand against some type of wooden surface brought her attention back to the recording. Wait… Did someone whimper when he did that?

_ “In light of all this, I wanted to send a very special message to the youths of Roseville.” _ More fabric rustling and stifled cries.  _ “Don’t try to pull the stunt that poor, young Rickie here did. I’m only sparing his life as a warning. The next person I catch won’t be so lucky.” _

Several realizations swarmed her mind all at once. The first was that this guy was an egocentric prick that didn’t want anyone else trying to take the spotlight. The second was that he still had the kid Zarina caught in the alleyway in captivity at the time of the recording. The third was that she knew his threat was very,  _ very  _ real. If someone was caught in that mask and Ghost Face found out, they were as good as dead. That begged the question of why the police hadn’t given any sort of official statement or warning about what was on the tape.

_ “With all that out of the way, I’ll be taking my leave for now.”  _ He chuckled. The static from his voice modulator somehow made it even creepier.  _ “Don’t worry though. I’m sure you all will be hearing from me again very soon.”  _ There was another muffled cry from the kid he probably had tied up and gagged. Right after that, the recording was cut off.

Zarina sat back in her chair and stared blankly at her computer screen. Hearing him taunt the general public was a thousand times worse than watching him through a security camera feed. The threat he made shook her to the core. She knew he was going to keep that promise. She closed out of the recording and picked up her cellphone to text Jed.

_ ‘Did you already listen to it?’  _ She sent.

_ ‘Yeah. It’s pretty crazy.’  _ That was an understatement.  _ ‘You think he’s going to keep his word?’ _

_ ‘Absolutely.’ _

The rest of her night was spent curled up in bed, swapping texts back and forth with him. It went from discussing the recording to the plans Alison had for Natalie’s birthday. He was going. That brought a smile to her face. After a while, they said their goodnights and she eventually fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Ghostie's an egotistical asshole.
> 
> The next chapter's gonna be... Fun. ;)


	8. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Natalie's birthday party. A slightly intoxicated Zarina is in for a... Fun time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half of this chapter is just smut.

Aside from the police finally releasing something about the tape and the condition of Ghost Face’s copycat, the week breezed by uneventfully for once. No murders, or even reports of stalking. While it was somewhat disconcerting, it seemed as though the entirety of Roseville was happy to get a break. Everyone at the Gazette had stopped treating the serial killer like he was a taboo topic. A few of her coworkers even showed interest in the current story Jed was covering and Zarina’s research. The shift was unexpected but very welcomed. Hopefully, that didn’t mean everyone was getting  _ too  _ comfortable.

Saturday rolled around and Zarina prepared for the party. Normally, she wasn’t the type to show skin, but she made an exception for once and threw on a halter top and pair of snug-fitting shorts. Hell, she even threw on a bit of makeup after styling her hair. The party started at six and she spent the majority of the day texting her friends. Once the time rolled around, she grabbed her bag and the gift for Natalie before walking out of her apartment door.

Alison greeted her at the door of Natalie’s house. Her eyes went wide as she looked her friend over. “Wow, girl. You look…  _ Different.” _

Zarina laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment?” The redhead just grinned as she grabbed Zarina by the wrist and all-but dragged her into the house. She looked around as Alison shut the door. There weren’t too many people. She spotted several coworkers, Natalie’s husband, and eventually, the chipper blonde herself, who was currently going through her camera and showing a few people some pictures she’d recently taken. One person was missing from her little friend group though… 

“He hasn’t arrived yet.” Alison must’ve read Zarina’s mind. “He told me he had to take care of something quickly, but he’d be over after. Here, let me take that.” She held out her hands and took the small, wrapped box when it was offered to her. “Natalie’s never been one for parties or presents. It took a good while for her to agree to all of this, but she’s been struggling recently and needs her support group.”

“That’s understandable.”

“C’mon, Z. Let’s get a drink in your hands.” Alison grinned and led Zarina into the kitchen. “Jace and Louis supplied most of the alcohol.”

“Is that why they were asking some of us what we liked to drink the other day?”

She giggled and nodded. “Yup! I know you’re not much of a drinker, but I think you could use it after everything that’s been going on.”

“I guess one or two couldn’t hurt…” Something told her she was about to get talked into  _ more  _ than just a couple of drinks. The look in her friend’s eyes told her everything. Well, what was the harm in it? After she and Alison got their drinks, she was led out of the kitchen and over towards their group of friends. She took a seat on the couch next to Louis. Jace was trying to get Natalie’s husband to sing something for her. The entire group was laughing and carrying on in no time.

Zarina split from the group for a few minutes to grab another drink. As she was walking back, she happened to glance towards the door and noticed someone walked in. Jed. Was he checking her out? It must’ve taken him a moment to realize she’d spotted him. When he finally did, he cracked a wide grin and walked over.

“So you made it?” She asked.

“Mhm. Glad I did.” His eyes were back on her body. “I don’t think I’ve seen you like this before, doll.”

Was she blushing? She was blushing. “There aren’t a whole lot of occasions where I get to wear something like this.”

“That’s a shame.” He moved closer and she found her mind traveling back to the park. “You look nice.” From the way he was looking her over, she got the feeling he thought she looked more than just  _ ‘nice’.  _

“Thank you.” She couldn’t blame what she was feeling on the alcohol. Not after what happened a few days ago. When she noticed someone walking towards them out of the corner of her eye, she quickly backed up and laughed awkwardly.

“Well, look who finally showed up,” Jace said as he walked over. “I was wondering when you were gonna get here.” When he noticed who was standing next to Jed, he stopped. “Am I… Interrupting something here?”

“No,” Zarina quickly responded. “Alison is probably waiting for me to get back over there.” She glanced at Jed. “Drinks are in the kitchen if you want anything. I’ll be over with the others.”

“Alright.”

She spun on her heels and made her way back towards the couch. Natalie and her husband had left to go talk to a few other guests. Alison and Louis were talking on the couch while Nathan leaned against the wall nearby and listened. He was the first to notice Zarina and waved. That caught the other two’s attention. The redhead was grinning at her with that  _ knowing  _ grin. She must’ve seen Zarina talking to Jed.

“You know, I’ve never seen him act this way towards any other woman at work,” Alison said as she moved over to let her friend sit down. “Or any other woman at  _ all,  _ for the matter. Some of us kind of assumed he was- well… Yeah.” She chose to not finish that. “Anyway, you must be something special. I saw the way he was eyeing you up.”

“He was just complimenting me,” Zarina mumbled as she lifted her cup to her lips.

She shook her head. “No, Z, I’ve gotten looks like that before. Jed was practically undressing you with his eyes back there.”

_ “Alison.” _

From behind them, Jace cackled. “He was wanting to undress her with  _ more  _ than his eyes, Ali. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Zarina wanted to do the same with him.”

_ “Jason!”  _ Zarina felt like she wanted to die. The worst part was that Jace wasn’t completely wrong. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind. “I’m not drunk enough for this.”

“Then drink faster!” She glanced over. “Oh… Here he comes!” Much to Zarina’s dismay, her friend stood up and offered her seat to Jed. What was even worse was that he  _ accepted. _

He sat down right next to Zarina. One hand held onto his drink. The other rested itself on the back of the couch. Alison played it off as though she didn’t do that to mess with her friend. The group went back to their friendly chatter for a little while. Soon enough, Natalie was back. Things remained like that for a little while, but Zarina would occasionally feel his eyes on her… And she liked it. Slowly but surely, each member of their little group split off to do their own thing until only the two were left.

“Nice party,” Jed commented. “Haven’t been to something like this in years. What about you?”

Zarina shrugged. “I was never the type for things like this.” The only parties she had ever attended were a few sweet sixteens and something a friend of hers back in Brooklyn threw for graduation. Even smaller things like sleepovers had always been few and far between. She had always been more absorbed in her work as a documentarian.

Then there was that time she was talked into going to some bonfire with that same friend who hosted the graduation party. She only partially remembered what happened but it had to do with some cute guy with a foreign accent that went to a local college.

“At least you’re enjoying this one, right?” His question brought her back from her memories.

She nodded. “It’s a nice break from everything going on. I could almost forget we’re living in a city with a deranged serial killer.” She couldn’t help but smile at the way Jed laughed. It had her making the mistake of glancing over to him. He was looking at her and she was able to pick up on something from his gaze.

“No need to worry about all of that tonight.” 

“Yeah. Thank God for that.”

The arm on the back of the couch fell to her shoulders. Was he making a move? Her dulled senses had a hard time processing that. Then she felt him shifting closer to her. The overwhelming smell of his cologne had her turning her head. Yep. He was making a move. The moment she saw the lust-filled look on his face, she caved and leaned in to close the short distance between them. The feeling of his lips against hers sent a jolt of electricity coursing through her body.

He pulled her onto his lap and she rested her hands on his shoulders. One eventually snaked its way up to the back of his head. His hair was soft to the touch. She carded her fingers through it as he gripped at her thighs. It felt euphoric to finally stop holding back and give in to the fact she  _ wanted  _ him. She almost forgot where she was until she heard the  _ click  _ of a camera. That had her pulling back and snapping her head in the direction it came from.

Alison had the biggest shit-eating grin Zarina had  _ ever  _ seen on her face. Louis and Jace were standing on either side of her, looking at the picture she just took on her camera. When she noticed Zarina glaring at her, that only made her grin wider. “I’m gonna be keeping this forever.”

_ Fuck. _

Zarina shifted off of Jed, who was as equally as startled as her. As she tried to sputter out  _ any  _ sort of response, she felt a hand grab onto her wrist. She was pulled off of the couch and onto her feet. It actually took a few seconds for her to register that Jed was leading her through the house. He found a set of stairs that led to the second floor and she stumbled a few times as they walked upstairs.

She soon found herself pushed against a wall. Jed practically pinned her to it as he pressed his lips to her neck. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers tangled through his hair as his hands roughly mapped out her body. The button on her jeans popped and a hand slipped inside. She blushed heavily and pulled him closer. It was pretty clear that the untimely interruption wasn’t going to deter him from what he wanted and she didn’t mind that in the slightest.

His fingers pushed past the waistband of her panties and the feeling of one against her clit was almost enough to have her melting right then and there. She moaned and pushed herself into his hand and, by  _ God,  _ his throaty chuckle from that only turned her on further. 

When he pulled back, she let out what was probably the most embarrassing whine of her life, but it was quickly interrupted when he lifted her off of her feet. She instinctively locked her arms around his neck as he carried her bridal style down the hall. They wound up in what was  _ hopefully  _ a guest bedroom. The door was kicked shut behind them and she was laid down on the bed.

She reached out and hastily started unbuttoning his shirt. He helped her in an attempt to keep her from accidentally popping the buttons off and then shrugged it off of his shoulders. She’d always seen him in his long-sleeved work shirts, or occasionally in a t-shirt when they weren’t at the office. She never would’ve guessed how fit he was, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise with the way he just picked her up and carried her almost like she was nothing.

Her hands were pressed against his bare chest as she soaked in the view she had from the bed. Every touch felt amazing. After she kicked off her shoes, he pulled her shorts and panties down. Another jolt of pleasure coursed down her spine and to her core when he teased her opening. She was dripping wet and both loved and hated how much that amused him. He pressed two fingers inside and she moaned again. There was no point in holding it back anymore. She arched her back towards him as he slowly began to pump his fingers.

She pulled him into another kiss. It was much more heated and involved a lot more tongue. He swiped his thumb across her clit and it sent heat rushing to her core. She felt herself knotting up tighter and tighter with each movement he made. Then it snapped. She threw her head back and cried out as she came into his hand.

He pulled his hand away as she was coming down from her climax and snickered. “That was really all it took for you?” Bastard.

“I-it’s been… A while…” She found it hard to catch her breath, let alone talk.

“That’s hard to believe.” He enjoyed the state she was in a little too much. She grumbled something under her breath, but it was cut short when he grabbed her hips and pulled her against him. Even through his pants, she felt a very telltale bulge. She was so doped up on lust that she actually started to grind against him and she  _ loved  _ the way he groaned… And she also loved the fact he pushed into her even more. “You do realize you just soaked the front of my jeans, right?”

Hah! Like she cared. “They shouldn’t e-even be on r-right now.”  _ Woah there, Z.  _ Where the hell did  _ that  _ come from?

“Fair enough,” He chuckled as he pulled back and she  _ hated  _ the sudden lack of contact, but the sound of a zipper coming undone had her perking up. She watched through lidded eyes as he pulled down his jeans and kicked them off. He’d reached down and grabbed something from them, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. Soon enough, he was pressed up against her again and slowly grinding. The only thing between them was the cloth of his underwear and she wanted that gone too.

She squirmed in an attempt to get more friction going on. Both of her hands squeezed at his shoulders as she looked up at him, pupils blown out, and mind clouded with lust. He was staring back down at her, eyes as intense as ever. She was a writhing mess under him and he was still so… Eerily calm, but also clearly enjoying himself.

She couldn’t control herself anymore and rested her head against the mattress again, eyes shut. “Fuck me.”

“What?”

“God  _ damnit,  _ Jed Olsen.  _ Fuck  _ me.” At least she didn’t have to tell him a  _ third  _ time. As he was shifting around and pulling his underwear down, something dawned on her. She had the briefest moment of lucidity and reached out to grab his arm. “Wait, we need a con…” The sound of foil tearing had her opening her eyes again.

“You were saying?” So  _ that’s  _ what he had grabbed from his pants. Wait. Why did he just happen to have one on him? Fuck it. She didn’t care enough to ask questions. Those few seconds of clarity slipped away as quickly as they came and she returned to her daze as he situated himself. She felt the tip of his cock prod her opening. Then he pushed inside all at once. The sudden - albeit very welcomed - intrusion had her jolt and moan loudly. He wasted no time finding a steady rhythm.

She wrapped her legs around him loosely. The feeling of his lips against her neck had her purring. Each grunt or moan vibrated against her skin, which only added to her pleasure. He kept a firm grip on her thighs as he thrusted into her. Meanwhile, her hands were in his hair and she was whispering praises under her breath between moans, which only encouraged him to go harder.

That warmth from before was starting to bubble back up again. Her body was entirely  _ too  _ sensitive. He must’ve realized it too because a thumb found its way to her clit and she outright jolted from the sensation. He slowed his pace down a little and rubbed circles with his thumb. Her noises of pleasure only grew louder. Soon enough, another orgasm pulsed throughout her body. She pulled him closer as she rode it out.

He wasn’t far behind. His thrusts had become a bit more erratic. She felt his irregular breaths against her ear. It didn’t take long before he pushed inside of her one last time and came with a loud groan.

She fell back onto the bed completely limp as he pulled out. Her vision was blurry, but she saw him moving around. He commented on the dopey smile she was wearing, but she didn’t bother responding. She was too busy basking in her post-sex bliss to give a damn about his smart-ass quips. After a few moments, she found herself nodding off, and her vision finally faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it finally happened. Honestly, I didn't plan on writing any smut for this fic at first, but a few days ago I was just like... Fuck it. Zarina's gonna bone this guy. Hence one of the changes to the tags lol.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed.


	9. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina wakes up to a surprise guest in her bed...

Zarina woke up the next morning, surprisingly lacking the hangover she thought she was going to get from the party. When she sat up and rubbed to sleep from her eyes, she realized she was in her bed and couldn’t figure out how she got there from Natalie’s house. The sound of something shifting around next to her had her looking over… Actually, that was a  _ someone.  _

He was laying halfway under the covers with his back towards her, but she already knew who it was. The question was how did she end up with a half-naked Jed Olsen in her bed? As her brain scrambled to put the pieces together, fingers brushed against her arm. She looked down to see sleep-filled green eyes staring back at her.

“Morning.” He said that  _ way  _ too casually given the circumstances.

“Morning,” She chose to reply. As much as she wanted to start raising questions about the current situation, she was still way too exhausted. Instead, she found herself curled up against him, head resting on his chest.

He ran his fingers through her short, curly hair and she leaned into the gentle touch. “You slept like a damn log. Did I wear you out that bad?”

Her eyes shot open again as memories started flooding back. They were at Natalie’s house during that party and  _ fucked  _ in an upstairs room. Holy shit. “That all happened…”

“Mhm. It did. You were amazing, doll.” Normally, she wasn’t too fond of that pet name, but the way it sounded in that half-asleep tone was way too hot.

“How did we…”

“End up at your place?” He finished, which had her nodding. He pushed himself up and she followed. “Figured you wouldn’t remember that. You were so far gone. Alison asked me to take you home because she didn’t want you trying to go by yourself. I brought you here and got you in bed, but you didn’t want me to leave after, so I stayed the night.”

“Yeah, I don’t remember any of that.” The last thing she  _ did  _ remember was passing out on that bed at Natalie’s, which had her cringing. She fucked a guy during a party at her friend’s house.

He shrugged. “Well, here you are. I can leave if you…”

“No.” That response came way too quickly. “I-I mean, you don’t have to.” The smirk he wore had heat rising to her cheeks. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“If you want me to stay, all you have to do is say so.”

She huffed as she crawled out of bed. “I just want to make you breakfast as thanks for helping me get back home last night.” When she got to her feet, she felt a little wobbly and she wasn’t able to tell if it was because she was still tired or because of what she did the previous night. Probably both. “You can get a shower while I do if you want.”

“Sounds good.” He stood up and stretched. The only thing he had on was his underwear. She hoped he hadn’t noticed the way her eyes traveled across his body.

“Towels are in the cupboard next to the tub. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” She turned and quickly walked off. Despite how weird the situation was, she couldn’t help but feel just the slightest bit giddy. Sure, it was going to be  _ extremely  _ difficult for her to look Natalie in the eye on Monday, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret her actions.

She got to work on something simple. During the weekend, she’d occasionally break out the recipe book her mother had given her, but she didn’t know if Jed would actually eat anything from it. Instead, she just pulled out eggs and bread and hoped that would suffice. As she was waiting for the toaster to pop, she heard feet padding towards her. He placed his hands against her hips and she leaned back against him, not caring about the fact he was still wet.

“I hope eggs are alright.”

“That’s fine,” He murmured into her ear as his hands traveled upward. The heat from his breath had her tilting her head to the side, which he took full advantage of. Goosebumps pricked up along her arms when she felt his mouth at her neck.

The sound of the toaster popping brought her back to reality. She hated the fact he pulled away but reached over to fish the toast from the machine as he walked over to the nearby table. “Want anything to drink?” She asked as she brought the plates over, trying to avoid looking him in the eyes… Or even in his general direction. “Orange juice, milk, tea..?”

“Orange juice,” He responded as she sat the plate down in front of him. She felt his gaze on her as she walked to the fridge.

“Normally, I like making something from my mother’s cookbook,” She said as she grabbed a carton of juice and sat it on the counter. “She has all of the recipes memorized, so she gave it to me when I moved out of Brooklyn. It’s all Lebanese dishes though, and I wasn’t sure how you would take to it.”

“Never had anything like that before. I was raised in a pretty all-American household.”

“Yeah.” She reached for the glasses. “I used to throw out the lunches she made for me when I went to school, so I guess I’m trying to make up for it now.”

“Why would you do that?”

Memories of her elementary and middle school years flooded back and she was secretly thankful he wasn’t able to see the pitiful look on her face. “I was always teased at school for being… Different. I hated it. After a while, I just decided to turn my back on my heritage.” She let out a dry laugh as she poured the drinks. “I threw away my lunches and dyed my hair lighter. I forced myself to show interest in whatever the popular kids liked. I even started going by ‘Karina’ at school. All in an effort to avoid the judgmental stares and the whispers behind my back.”

“Must’ve been difficult.”

“It was, but…” She paused. Was she really divulging her entire life’s story to the guy she slept with last night? What the hell was wrong with her? She shoved the carton back in the fridge and grabbed the glasses. “It’s fine now. I stopped caring about it after a while.”

“I can see why you have such thick skin now, and why you don’t let that bastard from work get to you.”

“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes as she walked back over. “I’ve dealt with far worse than Charlie. A lot of people are critical about what I do.” She looked at Jed for the first time since the bedroom. He looked way  _ too  _ perfect, she thought. Damp brown hair clung to the sides of his face. Traces of water still rolled down his neck and bare chest and…  _ God.  _ He was still in nothing but a towel. She tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she walked over and placed one of the cups down in front of him.

“I think I’ve told you this before, but don’t sell yourself short, Z. You’re a pretty strong woman. I can admire that.” He  _ admired  _ her.  _ What?  _

She was suddenly  _ extremely  _ bashful. He was also way too charismatic. She kept her eyes on her plate in an attempt to not give him some stupid look. “You’re too kind.” Her voice was small. She wanted to kick herself for that. She was just talking to Jed - the guy from work who shared her interest in Ghost Face. The one she joked around with just fine at work and at Walleyes.  _ The one she slept with last night…  _

“You know, I wouldn’t mind trying food from your home country if you want to make it sometime.” He smirked as he poked a piece of egg with his fork. “And, yes. I  _ am  _ asking you on a date this time.” She nearly spat out the gulp of juice she’d taken and had to place her hand over her mouth to avoid doing so. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

She quickly interrupted him. “You’re fine. I just didn’t expect that.” That eased the concern on his face. “Anyway, yeah. I can do that. Maybe this Friday after work?” Was she  _ really  _ setting up a date with him? Yes. She was, and she felt like an overly excited schoolgirl while doing it.  _ ‘God damnit, Kassir’  _ She thought to herself.  _ ‘You’re twenty-seven years old. Get ahold of yourself.’ _

“Sounds good.”

She smiled. Things at least went back to semi-normal as they ate. Jed had mentioned that Natalie loved the present Zarina had given her. Admittedly, she was never the greatest with gifts, but she knew Natalie loved collecting little knick-knacks. She’d found a small figurine of a palomino horse when she was out shopping and decided to buy it for her. At least her friend liked it. After they finished, Zarina excused herself to go shower.

All she smelled on her was the scent of sex and Jed’s cologne. While she wasn’t  _ completely  _ bothered by that, she still needed to wash off what remained of her makeup and scrub the weird feeling of dried sweat off of her body. It was a brief moment of respite from the intense emotions she felt at the table. Jed offered to clean up the dishes while she was in the shower, which she accepted.

She didn’t bother bringing a change of clothes into the bathroom. It wasn’t like he would see anything he hadn’t already if she just walked out in a towel. The warm water felt nice against her skin and loosened the tension in her muscles. She allowed herself to think back to whatever she remembered from the previous night and a smile teased at her lips.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she noticed her guest had finally gotten dressed and was hovering by her work area, scanning the articles she had pinned to the corkboard.

He must’ve realized she was looking at him. “Are these all on Ghost Face?”

“No, actually.” She walked over. “I have a few projects I’m looking into. There are a lot of mysteries in this world.” She wiped her hand on the towel wrapped around her body to avoid getting water anywhere near her work area and pointed at a few clusters of clippings off to the sides of the boards, rattling off what each group was. “This is about the MacMillan estate. The son of the owner, Evan Macmillan, supposedly killed hundreds of men - his father included - before seemingly vanishing off the face of the planet.” 

She gestured towards a much smaller cluster. “This is about some crazed doctor that had supposedly worked for the CIA. Some nosy college students somehow uncovered evidence of a long-forgotten hospital known as Lery’s Memorial Institute, where he supposedly worked at… But it’s hard to separate facts from conspiracy theories with this one.”

“And what about this?” Jed gestured to the third group of snippings. A copy of an old-fashioned wanted poster was partially hidden behind a few of the more recent-looking newspaper articles.

“This is what I was looking into right before I found out about Ghost Face.” She lifted the papers up to reveal the sketch of an older-looking man on the poster beneath it. “This is probably the oldest of my projects. It’s on some guy only known as ‘Mick’, who was behind the very creatively named ‘Mad Mick Massacre’. The  _ ‘official’  _ report on it was that he ruthlessly slaughtered his former employer and a group of guards at a penitentiary with his gang of Irish immigrants sometime back in the 1860s.”

“I’m guessing you think there’s something more to it?”

She nodded. “My first film was on Sacco and Vanzetti - two Italian migrants who were questionably executed for something similar in the 1920s. There are a few things with this story that just… Don’t add up.” She sighed and let go of the clippings. “The problem is, like Evan MacMillan and that unknown doctor, this ‘Mick’ guy vanished a long time ago. There’s no telling  _ what  _ happened back there without his side of the story, but I have a hunch. Maybe I’ll get back to this someday.” One of the things posted with her research on him was a photo she’d taken while at the penitentiary where the massacre took place. The words ‘DEATH TO BAYSHORE’ were etched into the stone wall of what looked to be an old prison cell.

“You have a wide variety of interests…”

“It’s good to have something else to do when I want to take my focus off of Ghost Face for a while. Researching one case can also help me look for similarities with another.”

“Have you found any similarities to Ghost Face in your other projects?”

She chewed at her lower lip and shook her head. “I need to dig deeper into other known serial killers, but I don’t have anything solid right now. I’ll be able to put some pieces together someday. Until then, all I have to go off of is what’s currently happening in Roseville. One thing  _ is  _ for sure though.”

“And what is that?”

“He  _ wants  _ the attention he’s getting. He plays all of this like it’s some sick game.” She glanced towards her computer and remembered what he’d said on that recording Jed gave her. “Every newspaper article or TV story made about him is giving him what he wants, but it’s not like we can just  _ ignore  _ what he’s doing. This is going to be a vicious cycle until he’s either caught or maybe vanishes into the ether like all of these other guys.” A wild gesture was made towards her board. “Anyway, I don’t want to think about Ghost Face right now.”

“Alright, then.” He looked her over and she suddenly remembered that she was still in a towel. “What  _ do  _ you want to think about then?” The expression on her face must’ve told him everything he needed to know. He moved over and her heartbeat quickened. No words had to be spoken. The moment he got into arms reach, she grabbed him by his shirt and led him towards her bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate how cute I make these morons sometimes. More spooky Ghostface action coming soon.
> 
> Thank you for reading. <3


	10. Peaceful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things have been rather slow in Roseville for a little too long...

Zarina strolled into her work with a grin plastered across her face on Monday morning. As she was organizing a few things on her desk, someone walked over. The sound of Alison snickering had her looking up.

“It’s about damn time that happened. We all felt the sexual tension between you and him for the longest time, Z.”

Normally, she would have been groaning at her coworker’s teasing, but it didn’t bother her as much that day. She just smirked back at her before returning to what she was doing. Alison quickly caught her attention again by rummaging through her bag.

“Ali, what…” Zarina’s voice trailed off as a photo was held out to her. She took it and her jaw dropped at what she saw. She was on the couch at Natalie’s, straddling his hips and kissing him. She looked back up at Alison, who was trying her hardest to not burst into laughter. “When did this happen?” She asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep her voice down.

“You don’t remember?” She snickered as she grabbed the photo from her flustered friend. “You were so messed up that night. I couldn’t help myself!”

“Oh my  _ God,  _ Alison!” Zarina hissed.

“Hey, girls.” Jed’s voice had both of them jumping. Zarina was  _ never  _ going to get used to that.

Alison grinned at him. “Hey, lover boy. I didn’t hear from either of you yesterday. What happened?”

“It was…” He glanced at Zarina, who was glaring daggers back at him. “A pretty eventful night. She agreed to have a date with me.” Those words had the embarrassed woman hissing his name.

“Oh, she  _ did  _ now?”

Someone had walked over and grabbed Alison’s attention. She had to review something for an employee that was currently on sick leave. She walked off with them and Zarina instantly felt a sense of relief. That didn’t mean Jed was off the hook though.

She grabbed him by the arm and growled. “Why did you tell her that?”

“Did you want me to lie or something?” Her face flushed. He was so  _ casual  _ about it. “It’s not like I regretted any of it.”

Her eyes widened. She had no way of responding to that. She had kind of figured that already, but hearing the words from his mouth… It took her by surprise. “We… We should get to work.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” He spared one more glance at her and she saw that twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll let you get to it then. Talk to you later.”

At some point during the day, Zarina was able to talk to Natalie about the party. Her coworker seemed to have found the entire situation amusing. Of course, she was on the same boat as Alison and Jace and  _ knew  _ it was going to happen eventually. At least she didn’t have to worry about the workplace getting awkward from the whole ordeal.

While on break, she finally had the chance to read over the Monday paper. Jed had been completely right about a surviving victim having the potential to make headlines. His story was front and center. It told the chilling account of the now-stabilized copycat and what the recording found next to him contained. Said recording had been  _ conveniently  _ leaked to the media at one point over the weekend by an  _ unknown  _ source. Zarina knew exactly who had done it. She was the one who convinced him, after all.

As she packed up for the day, she caught someone walking over out of the corner of her eye. At least he was  _ trying  _ to let his presence be known before he started speaking. 

He leaned against the side of her desk with his usual smirk. “Saw you with that paper earlier. What do you think?”

She nodded approvingly as she stood up. “Another riveting ghost story. I get the feeling everyone is eating this up as we speak. Congratulations on finally making the headlines, mister Olsen.”

“It was a long time coming.”

“Yeah, and now Ghost Face probably has more eyes on him than ever before.” Part of her still hated that the freak _wanted_ the attention, but what could she do? “Since this recording is  _ technically  _ available to everyone now, I was thinking about making a post to my blog and see what others say about it.” What she  _ really  _ wanted to do was get out on the streets and try to coax people into speaking their minds about the recent events on camera, but that required a lot of time she didn’t have on an ordinary weekday.

“I’ll make sure to check it out when you publish it.” He glanced towards the door. “I have something I need to take care of in the meantime.”

“How  _ ominous.” _ Her comment had them both laughing. “Well, I won’t keep you from it. Have a good evening, Jed.” She hadn’t expected him to kiss her, but he did, and she leaned into it without hesitation. She wanted to reach up and cup his cheeks or brush her fingers through his hair. He pulled back before she was able to.

He winked at her. “See you later, doll.” She could get used to that pet name, she supposed.

She watched as he walked away. Did that  _ seriously  _ just happen? Given the expression etched across Alison’s face, she could only assume it did.

* * *

Zarina spent the remainder of her afternoon on her computer, working on the post about the recording. She had people asking about it even before she started, which wasn’t much of a surprise. At that point, it was pretty clear she was actively pursuing the case. 

She attached the file Jed sent her but hesitated before posting. The recording was already leaked, but something about the thought of spreading its accessibility even further concerned her. By that point, she  _ knew  _ what type of killer Ghost Face was, and she’d be feeding him the attention that motivated him. At the same time, people  _ deserved  _ to know what was going on. She clicked the button and the post went up.

“I need a break,” She mumbled to herself as she got out of her chair and grabbed her bag. There was a small diner a block and a half from her apartment building. When she picked up her cellphone, she considered calling Jed and asking him to meet her there. Then she remembered he had plans for that evening. Oh well. She threw her phone in her bag and walked out of her apartment after double-checking to make sure she had her knife. She still remembered the feeling of eyes on her back when she was dropped off after the event she attended a few weeks back and still cursed at herself for leaving her knife at home that day. Never again.

The walk to the diner was peaceful. Roseville in  general  was peaceful. After a spree of killings and that threatening message, Ghost Face had gone mostly silent. Nothing happened over the past week or so. While some might’ve found the moment of respite nice, it only left Zarina on edge. Serial killers never stopped. Not for long, at least.

She took a seat and ordered what she wanted when a chipper little waitress walked over. Her gaze then fell to the window next to her as she waited. The sun had all but set, leaving the streets coated in twilight as the lamps running alongside them started flickering to life. She always liked this time of the evening, even in Roseville, where it meant a deranged man in a mask was potentially out on the prowl. She let out a content sigh as she leaned back in her booth.

The waitress chatted with Zarina for a while as she ate. The diner was empty aside from the staff, who were getting ready to close up. Soon enough, she was finished and back out on the street. The sun had long since set and she made it a point to stick to the lit roads, hand clutching the blade stashed in her jacket pocket. The bliss she’d felt back in the safety of the diner faded away fairly quickly as she walked down the quiet street.

Just as she neared her apartment building, a woman’s shriek violently ripped through the air and stopped her in her tracks. She turned in the direction it came from and felt that same rush she’d gotten back at the park with Alison. Just like the last time, the smart idea would’ve been to run to safety, but her mind was already made up. She took off down the road as quickly as her feet could carry her. Another distressed cry rang out as she bolted down the sidewalk and turned a corner. The woman was clearly on the run and getting closer.

She spotted the woman running out into the road. Her hand clutched at her wounded side as she stumbled around, crying out for help. From behind her, a tall man cloaked in shadows hovered nearby. His face was covered with a distorted mask Zarina knew all too well. She was standing before the faceless terror that’d been haunting the streets of Roseville. The  _ real  _ one.

“You need to help me!” The injured woman pleaded as she stumbled forward, nearly falling over in the process. “He’s… He’s coming! Please, get me out of here!”

Zarina grabbed her arm and took off with her in the opposite direction of the attacker. She led the woman to the nearest house that still had its porch light lit. As she violently knocked on the door to get the attention of whoever was inside, she couldn’t help but glance in the direction they’d just ran from.

He was still there, lingering in the shadows just outside the reach of a nearby streetlight, head tilted to the side as he watched the panicking women. He didn’t move until the door opened. Zarina was forced to turn away and greet the surprised man in front of her.

“She’s been attacked,” She explained, voice shaky. The woman that was now clutching onto her arm was babbling incoherently through her sobs. “Please, call the police!”

The man recovered from his temporary shock and yelled for his wife to get the phone. He then grabbed the bat next to his door and walked outside to stay with the two until the police arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea what to call this chapter, so appreciate the irony... I guess?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. Taking Risks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina is a little shaken from her brief encounter with Ghost Face. Everyone at the Gazette knows what happened to her. At least she has one escape she can rely on...

Zarina sat on the porch of the house she ran to, eyes fixed on the paramedics that talked to the woman she’d just saved the life of. It had been about half an hour since the attack. The police had arrived fairly quickly and an ambulance pulled up soon after. A few neighbors peered out from their windows to watch what was going on, but none of them dared to set foot outside. She knew the police would be wanting a statement from her eventually, so she stayed there in a nearly catatonic state, clutching onto her blood-stained jacket. Her eyes finally shifted away from the scene when she heard a car door slam shut. A frantic redhead barreled towards her.

“Zarina!” Alison called as she ran up to the porch. “My God. I’m so sorry I took so long! I wa-”

“It’s fine,” She interrupted. “I’m okay.”

“Well, you sure as heck don’t  _ look  _ okay!” She glanced down at the jacket her friend was holding onto. “That’s not your blood, is it?”

Zarina huffed air out through her nose and shook her head. “He never got close to me. I was just trying to comfort that woman while we waited for the police to show up. Her cut is pretty deep.”

Another figure approached the two as they spoke. He kept his green, concern-ridden eyes locked on Zarina. “Alison called me to drive her over here.” He walked up the steps and sat down next to her. “What happened?”

“Ghost Face.” She nodded towards the ambulance. “He attacked that woman. I managed to get her to safety.”

“You’re _sure_ it was Ghost Face?” Alison asked.

“I saw his mask. I guess I must’ve startled him when I ran over to her.” Her eyes turned to the trail of blood splatters that led further down the road. “He just stood there and watched as I brought her over to this house and left the moment they answered.”

“Wow. At least you’re okay and that lady’s still alive.”

She nodded. “Two officers went to investigate, but I doubt they’ll find him. He’s probably long gone by now.” She felt one of Jed’s arms wrap around her and leaned into him, comforted by the familiar presence. If it were under any other circumstances, she was sure Alison would’ve been teasing the two. Hell, she probably wouldn’t have cared if she did.

“I’m just glad you’re safe, Z.”

The two stayed by her side as an officer questioned her on the events that transpired. She recanted the same story she had told her friends. Soon enough, she was on her way towards Jed’s car. He had offered to stay the night after he drove Alison back to her home and she happily accepted. She’d never admit to herself, but that encounter left her shaken. Her mind flickered back to when Jed asked if she’d chase down the real Ghost Face if she ever saw him. At the time, she was almost certain that she would have… But after what happened that night, she wasn’t so sure, and she hadn’t even been his target.

He laid down in bed with her after she calmed down enough to sleep. Catharsis had settled in by that point, numbing her to the extreme anxiety that had wreaked havoc on her mind for the past few hours. She found herself eventually drifting off as she gently traced shapes against his bare chest with her finger.

* * *

Zarina woke up the next morning in Jed’s arms. When she looked up, she saw his eyes were still closed. She carefully slipped away and got out of bed. Time for another day of work, and probably another night absorbed in research. Her mind was set on looking into serial killers with similar motives. Maybe there was something in those cases that could help her with Ghost Face, but that was for a later time.

She scrubbed herself down in the shower, trying to get the thoughts of what happened the previous night out of her head. The look of pure terror on that poor woman’s face was something she was probably never going to be able to forget. It was like it’d been permanently seared into her brain.

Jed was up and getting dressed by the time she got out of the shower. He looked her over with a lazy smirk. “Morning, dollface.”

She returned with a soft smile as she walked towards her dresser. “Morning.” As she was opening one of the top drawers, she felt his hands at her sides and his breath against her neck. She leaned into him and sighed. “We have work today.”

“Unfortunately,” He mumbled against her skin, which sent a wave of goosebumps prickling up her arms.

She turned around and looked up at him. At that moment, she felt a sort of calmness - something she probably  _ shouldn’t  _ have felt after the previous night. Yet, there she was. She decided that she didn’t care. He was the first to make a move by leaning down. She closed the distance and relished in the feeling of his lips against hers. His fingertips trailed up her thighs, pushing past the brim of her towel and a wave of heat rushed down her body.

_ ‘No, Zarina. Get yourself together.’  _ She thought as she pulled back and placed her hands on his chest, giving him a slight shove that had him backing up. “I’m  _ serious, _ Jed. We have to get ready for work.” A pang of regret instantly hit her, but she pushed it to the side. “You can shower and eat here if you want, but I figure you’ll want to get home soon to change.”

“I probably should, yeah.” He took a step back as she returned to her dresser. “See you at work, Z.”

She glanced over and saw the smirk on his face. It had… Something strange about it. “Later, Jed.” As he walked out, she started getting ready. The news channel was turned on as she was brushing her hair. She grimaced at the weather report. The sudden change in climate was one of Zarina’s biggest turns offs to moving to Florida, but she chose to deal with the warmer days to pursue what she loved.

As she was setting her brush down, the story that came on caught her eye. It was about last night’s attack. The news anchor stood on the sidewalk of the street where it happened. Zarina could still see bloodstains on the ground the man was gesturing in. At least her name wasn’t released to the public. She decided to just turn her TV off and finish getting ready in silence.

Word had traveled fast. Everyone at the Gazette knew what happened the previous night. For some reason, that left the place tense for the majority of the workday… Which stressed her out. Her only relief was the few occasions a friend would talk to her as they went about their business. Break time came. As she was eating in the break room, she noticed Jed walk in. He sat down in front of her and she smiled over at him.

“You’ve been pretty on edge,” He commented. "What's up?"

She sighed and threw her fork onto her plate. “I feel like people are looking at me. Last night wasn’t even that  _ bad  _ for me. I feel more sorry for that lady that actually  _ got  _ stabbed.” 

He shrugged. “They’re worried about you, Zarina.”

There was nothing to  _ be  _ worried about though. “Well, hopefully, it blows over soon. I could use a break from it.”

“A break, hmm?” He smirked. Zarina raised an eyebrow as he leaned over the table. “You know, there’s an office room in the back that’s not in use right now. We could sneak off there and-”

_ “Jed!”  _ Zarina hissed as her face heated up. She quickly glanced around. No one else seemed to be paying attention at least.

“It’s just an offer, doll.” An offer that, admittedly, she  _ really  _ wanted  to take him up on. He was daring her to as well. She saw it in his eyes. Bastard. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and he somehow knew he’d won her over. Soon enough, the two snuck out of the break room and slipped inside the vacant office. She was thankful that there weren’t any cameras in there.

The moment the door was shut and locked, he pushed her against it. His hand gripped her waist tightly as he pressed his lips against hers. She leaned in as her hands slid up his chest and wrapped around his shoulders. Of course, she knew how stupid this was and what would happen if they got caught. That wasn’t at the forefront of her mind though. Her normal sensibilities had given way to a primal lust she hadn’t felt in a long while. Jed was proving that he had a way of bringing that side of her out, and she  _ loved  _ it.

He lifted her up and brought her over to the desk. When he set her down on it, he pushed his hips into hers and she couldn’t help but grind against him. There were way too many layers of clothes between the two, but she could hardly care. She was way too caught up in the moment and every little touch sent a jolt of pleasure coursing through her.

The sound of footsteps and a muffled voice brought her out of the haze Jed had managed to put her in. She looked over at the door, but he cupped her jaw and brought her eyes back on him. No distractions. He pulled her onto her feet and turned her around. Her palms flattened against the wooden desk before her as he pressed his body against her and snaked his hands around to her front. They made quick work of her belt, which immediately had her grabbing one of his arms.

“Trust me,” He mumbled into her ear. For some reason, that was enough for her to allow him to continue what he was doing. He popped the button on the front of her jeans and pulled down the zipper. The feeling of his fingers slipping under the fabric of her pants had her gasping. He clamped his hand around her mouth. “Shh.”

Two fingers teased at her folds, causing her to jerk her hips into his touch. The snicker he let out had her huffing through her nose. “Already wet?” Well, she had been a little…  _ Bothered  _ since that morning. “Tsk tsk.” A finger pressed against her clit and she moaned into his hand at the touch. “Remember to stay quiet, doll.” It was kind of hard to do that with the slow circles he was rubbing into her.

Her knees began feeling weak. She leaned back into him, right onto a pretty obvious bulge in his pants. That gave her the brilliant idea to push her hips further against him. She was rewarded with a pleased groan. He thrusted into her in response and growled in her ear. The finger rubbing circles against her clit picked up.

“So you like this, huh?” His voice had lowered to a strained whisper. “You like the thrill of potentially getting caught?” A sick part of her did. Another thrust. She scrambled to keep herself steady on the desk. “Well, you really  _ are  _ the daring type, aren’t you?” 

More like crazy, she thought. How was she getting off to this? Had he already learned all of the right buttons to push from the few times they had slept together? Was she  _ that  _ damn readable? Fuck it. She didn’t care. Her focus was more on the heat building up in the depths of her core. She was so damn  _ close  _ already. One right push and…

She moaned into his hand again, nails digging into the wood under them. When he pulled back, it took every bit of strength she had to not collapse. Instead, she managed to flip around to face a very amused Jed. He leaned over her, which forced her to sit down on the desk.

“I figured there was a little bit of degeneracy in you.” He reached up and brushed his fingers against her cheek. “I can see it in those pretty eyes of yours. There’s a wild side to you.”

“Of course there is. I’ve taken my fair share of risks in my life.”

He shook his head. “No, not  _ that  _ kind of wild.” The simper teasing at his features had her flushing more than even her orgasm had managed. “I’m talking about the kind that likes to walk on the edge and challenge norms to get what you want. I saw it back when you wanted to get a copy of that recording, knowing full well how dangerous it might’ve been. I see it every time you talk about your little passion projects on criminals and murderers - like you’d  _ personally  _ face them if it meant the chance of finding out the truth.” Both hands settled on her thighs as he continued. “It’s pretty admirable. I just wonder how far you might go.”

“That… Depends on the cause.”

“Mmm…” He stepped back. Something told her that he was going to have all kinds of fun trying to push her limits. Jed was probably going to get her into a  _ lot  _ of trouble… And she didn’t exactly mind that. It’s not like she had ever tried to tout some sort of good girl persona. “We should probably get back out there.”

_ Fuck.  _ Right. They were still at work. Zarina pushed herself off of the desk. At least she was able to stand. “Yeah, we should.”

“You go first. Let’s pick this up later.”

She smirked. “My place?”

“Sounds good.”

It was crazy. Just last week, she never would’ve dreamed about getting into a situation like this with  _ anyone -  _ let alone _Jed Olsen._ That man had a weird way of just… _Getting_ to her. Her conscience immediately told her to be careful, but she didn’t want to listen to it.

She pecked him on the lips before she walked out of the room. No one must’ve noticed her disappearance. She quickly gathered her stuff from the break room and got back to her desk.

It was going to be pretty damn hard to concentrate for the rest of the day, especially with the looks she occasionally caught Jed giving her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. My hand slipped. I'm not sorry.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	12. Delivery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a fun night, Zarina arrives at work the next day and is greeted with a mysterious package waiting for her at her desk.

The wait at work had been _agonizing,_ but well worth it. While Zarina was packing her things up to go home, Jed walked by with a crooked, knowing smirk on his face. That alone was enough to send a pulse to her core. What a fucking tease. At least no one seemed to have noticed that brief wordless exchange.

He didn’t waste any time getting to her apartment at least. She was only there for about fifteen or so minutes before she heard the knock at her door. She opened it and he pushed himself inside the moment she did. The door got kicked shut and he got dragged off to her bed.

Zarina soon found herself pinned down on it, completely naked. He hovered over top of her, gripping the bedsheets as he thrusted inside of her. The sight of the woman below him must’ve been something to behold. He wasn’t easy with her like he had been before. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Several hickeys scattered the left side of her collarbone. She had a strong grip on his shoulders, nails threatening to pierce into his skin. Each rough thrust brought another whimper or moan.

She fucking  _ loved  _ it.

Her orgasm ripped its way through her body more violently than before and she was happy that she didn’t have to stay quiet. She released her grasp on him and her arms went limp, landing somewhere above her head. His pace slowed and each thrust became much more deliberate. She felt the bed shake each time. His climax was followed by a loud groan. Then the room went silent. He pushed himself off of her as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the afterglow with a dopey smile plastered on her face. The breathy laugh from the man next to her had her looking over. He was looking back, smirking as his eyes traveled across her body.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just the way you look right now is so…  _ Perfect.” _ What was  _ that  _ supposed to mean? “I almost want to get my camera and-”

She instantly sat bolt upright and narrowed her eyes at him. “I swear to  _ God,  _ Jed. Don’t you even dare!”

He laughed even harder, which only intensified her glare. “I’m kidding, doll. Don’t worry.” He sat up as well and slung his legs over the side of the bed. She watched as he grabbed his underwear from wherever the hell she had thrown them and walked to the bathroom.

She huffed and got to her feet. By the time he got back, she had gotten her underwear back on and fished up his clothes from the floor. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap. She mumbled something about having to wash her sheets  _ again,  _ which had a chuckle rumbling from his throat.

“Maybe I’ll invite you to  _ my  _ house next time, then.”

The thought had her flushing. It suddenly dawned on her that she didn’t even know  _ where  _ he lived. She assumed it was somewhere close by, given how quickly he arrived both that night and the one before with Alison. “I’ll have to take you up on that someday.”

She moved to straddle his lap and wrap her arms around his shoulders while his hands settled at her waist. The feeling of his lips against hers had her melting into him. A hand traveled up her body and made itself at home on the back of her head. She felt his tongue swipe across her lower lip and opened her mouth, allowing him in. She was in a rare moment of bliss and wanted to savor it as long as she possibly could. When he finally pulled away, she had to force herself to not whimper.

He sighed. “I need to get going soon. I have a few errands to run before it gets too dark and everything closes.” She hated the thought of that more than she probably should’ve. He must’ve been able to tell. “At least I’ll have you all to myself on Friday.”

Friday? Oh, right. She had nearly forgotten. The thought brought her some comfort. “Yeah.” She shuffled off of him and onto the bed so he could stand up.

“You were as amazing as ever, doll,” He told her as he stood up.  _ Fuck.  _ How was he able to say stuff like that so casually, and why did it affect her as much as it did? The look on her face must’ve been priceless judging by the way he laughed as he pulled his pants up.

Her face heated up and she suddenly found it hard to look him in the eyes. “You were too.”

They said their goodbyes and she watched as he left. When the door clicked shut, she turned her attention to getting dressed and ripping the sheets off of her bed. Yeah. Those things  _ definitely  _ needed to be washed.

* * *

The next morning rolled around and she walked into the Gazette. When she noticed what looked to be a small cardboard box sitting on her desk, she furrowed her brow and picked it up. As she was examining it, Alison spoke up.

“Boss said it was sent here by someone last night. Doesn’t know who. It was addressed to you though, so he just put it on your desk.” Well, _that_ sounded suspicious.

From nearby, Jace cackled. “Got an admirer, Z? Not surprising. I hope they won’t be  _ too  _ upset when they find out you already have a lover.”

Zarina cut her eyes at him before returning them to the package. She wanted to open it right then and there, but refrained. She already had enough to deal with that day. For all she knew, one of her coworkers was just pulling a prank on her. She threw it into her bag and sat down in her chair.

The day dragged along at a snail’s pace. Nothing of note happened. At least she never felt eyes on her like she had the previous day. During lunch, Alison excitedly told her about a date she scored for Saturday. Her happiness had always been contagious, but it was especially so then. Zarina couldn’t help but feel equally as excited for her friend.

There were a few times where she peeked over at Jed as she walked past his desk. He was absorbed in the piece he was writing about the attack the other night. The victim declined any interviews for the time being, but Zarina supposed the big man wanted him to push  _ something  _ out. At least he was good at telling stories.

As everyone started getting ready to leave, Jed walked over to her desk. She stood up and smiled at him, completely unprepared for the kiss he planted on her lips. “See you later, doll.” She tried to sputter something out, but her words died in her throat. She hated the grin on his face as he walked away. Meanwhile, a few of her friends were cackling at the whole ordeal. The glare she shot at them only had them laughing harder.

When she got home, the first thing she did was sit down at her desk. The box was grabbed from her purse and quickly opened up. What she found inside was completely unexpected. “A phone?” She mumbled. It looked cheap. Clearly a burner. The only other thing in the box was a note that read  _ ‘Call me’.  _ Alright. She was almost  _ certain  _ someone was pulling a prank on her and was determined to find out who.

She turned the phone on and went to the contacts. There was only one number. She quickly pulled out her own and skimmed through the list on that. It wasn’t one she recognized. Great. Well, there was only one thing she  _ could  _ do. She called the number. It rang a few times and she assumed whoever was on the other end wasn’t going to pick up… But then they did and her heart damn near stopped beating when she heard the voice on the other end.

_ “Hey there, little detective. It’s about time we got to speak.”  _ His voice was distorted in a way that could only be achieved through some sort of modifier… And it sounded way too familiar.

“Who’s this?” She asked with a shaky voice.

_ “I think you already know. We ran into each other a couple of nights back.” _

She tensed up at the memory of staring at Ghost Face as she was helping that poor woman escape from him. No. She didn’t want to believe this guy. “Jace? Nate? Louis? Which one of you bastards is trying to pull my leg? It’s  _ not  _ funny.”

The man on the other end let out a dark, distorted laugh. She almost winced at the static from the voice modifier.  _ “This isn’t one of your little friends trying to joke around with you. You’re talking to the real deal, gal.”  _ Holy  _ fuck. _

“Why the hell would you call me? You know I could find a way to track this thing back to you, right?” Could she? Fuck. She didn’t know. Chances were the cops wouldn’t take her seriously if she tried to report this to them.

_ “I’d like to see you try. Nothing will come back to me.”  _ How could she feel his grin through a goddamn phone call?

She took a deep breath and tried to level her voice. Whoever this was wanted to get a rise out of her. She wasn’t about to let that happen. “Why are you talking to me?”

_ “You’ve been on my radar for a while now, little detective. I was going to write you off as some nobody journalist that likes sticking her nose in places where it doesn’t belong… But then I saw something in you the other night as you stole my kill away from me.”  _ He paused and a sense of tension overwhelmed her.  _ “I saw it in the way you kept staring at me. You thought about chasing after me instead of helping her.” _

“No. I-”

_ “Don’t deny it. I could see it in your eyes, even from that far away. You might’ve done that if you weren’t interrupted.” _ Another pause.  _ “I don’t know whether I should admire that or not.” _

Zarina curled her free hand into a fist. She knew deep down that she thought about the possibility for the briefest of moments. “I needed to get that woman to safety.”

_ “Sure…”  _ What a condescending  _ bastard. _

She groaned. “Okay, whatever. Just tell me why you’re calling me.”

_ “Because I wanted you to chase me back there. I wanted to meet you. The way you so willingly ran to that woman’s aid intrigued me.” _

“You  _ wanted  _ to meet me?” For a few seconds, she almost regretted not going after him.

_ “Mhm. I still do, if you’re willing?” _

Willing to meet with him? That sounded  _ crazy.  _ He was trying to lure her into a trap… Right? “How do you know I won’t just take this to the police if I agree?”

_ “You’re too curious. You know you want to confront me. This opportunity would be too good to pass up… So, I’m giving it to you, and only you. Don’t bring anyone else though, or you’ll regret it.” _

Meeting him alone at night? She’d be  _ insane  _ to agree to that. Still, he somehow sounded genuinely curious about her.

_ “I’m waiting,”  _ He cooed.

Fuck it. “Fine. When and where do you want to meet?”

_ “Tomorrow night. Remember the park you saw that kid at?”  _ How did he know it was  _ her  _ that found him? The person that caught him was never identified. She hadn't even mentioned it on her blog. _ “Midnight, when no one’s there. Oh, and one more thing…” _ His tone of voice darkened. _ “Don’t try anything stupid, girl. If you do, I won’t be afraid to slice you open and spill your guts all over the ground.” _

She swallowed hard at his threat. “O-okay.”

_ “Good. I’ll see you then.”  _ He hung up.

Zarina brought the phone down from her ear and tried to process what had happened. She had just agreed to meet  _ Ghost Face  _ in a park at night. What the hell was wrong with her? She found herself glancing towards her own cell phone. Maybe she could try to call him from there? No. That was a  _ horrible  _ idea.

She threw the phone in her bag and stood up. After that conversation, she was a little too dazed to work on anything. Instead, she just kicked her pants and shoes off before laying down in bed and eventually dozing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't wait to post this chapter. Shit's about to go down.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this. ;)


	13. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina goes out under the cover of night to meet up with Ghost Face.

It was Thursday night, going into Friday morning. Zarina stared into the mirror above her bathroom sink. She had been concocting a plan in her head all day on what she was going to do and say and finally settled on something. She threw on her new jacket and grabbed her camera off of her desk. Her voice recorder was attached to her belt, ready for use. Her knife was stored in her jacket, just in case. After she made sure she was set, she left her apartment and took off towards the park.

He wasn’t there yet, thankfully. She arrived early enough to slip into an alley and wait. Sure enough, a figure in a white mask emerged from the shadows and moved through the park. The thin straps attached to the sleeves and upper part of his leather jacket danced around freely behind him. They gave him a sort of otherworldly vibe, like a ghost traversing a silent graveyard. Fitting. As he came to a stop and looked around, chills ran down her spine. He was so calm. He acted like he was meeting a friend, rather than some stranger he was stalking.

She refrained from revealing herself for a few minutes as she worked up the courage to go through with her plan. She snuck towards him, her camera in her hands. He wasn’t looking in her direction from what she could tell. She held out her camera and, just as she was about to snap the picture, he noticed what she was doing and he started to run towards her.  _ Click.  _ When she lowered her camera, she was greeted with a very pissed off Ghost Face charging towards her. She didn’t have enough time to dodge out of the way before he was able to grab her arms.

“What did I say about not trying anything stupid?” His grip tightened and she winced. His voice still sounded filtered. No surprise there. “I oughta break that damn camera of yours over your skull for that little stunt!”

“I’ll fucking  _ scream,”  _ She threatened as she tried to squirm from his grasp to no avail. “Let go of me!”

The sound of Ghost Face’s growl crackled through the voice modifier. “Go ahead. I’ll cut your throat if you try!” She quieted down after that and he released her arms. She immediately held her camera to her chest. “Fine. I’ll let that little stunt go, but I won’t be so generous next time. So, let me repeat myself…” He leaned in and she nearly gagged at the smell of his overbearing cologne. What serial killer wears that kind of shit on their creepy murder outfit? It didn’t even completely mask the coppery scent of blood underneath it, but maybe he wanted it that way. “Don’t pull anything stupid or _I will fucking kill you.”_ She knew he was serious about that.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding as he stepped away from her. She almost felt dizzy but tried to shake that off. A million questions buzzed around in her mind and she settled for the simplest one she could manage. “Why did you want to meet me?”

“I guess I didn’t go into too much detail when I said you intrigued me, huh?” His tone didn’t sound as threatening as before. It was more like something that would’ve been used in a casual conversation. What was  _ wrong  _ with that guy? “You’re not like most people, and I’ve met a  _ lot  _ of people in my time. When they see a scary guy with a mask and knife, their usual instinct is to run away. You though? Well, it’s like I said before; you wanted to chase  _ me  _ instead.”

“You’ve told me this, yes…”

“I can admire someone with guts like yours. Makes it so much better when I get to slice them up and watch them bleed out.”

“So you brought me here to kill me?”

“Mmm. No. Not yet, at least.” Not  _ yet? _ He crossed his arms over his chest. She wasn’t able to see his face but still felt the way he leered at her. “I’ve been looking into you for a while, especially after that little stunt with poor Rickie. It’d be a waste to cut you down right now.”

“Thanks… I guess?” Was she supposed to take that as a compliment? His chuckle didn’t help anything. “So do you always ask the people who  _ ‘intrigue’  _ you to meet up at some random park in the middle of the night or am I a special case?”

He shrugged. “Only the pretty ones, usually.” Wait,  _ what?  _ “You’re the first one I don’t  _ intend  _ to immediately kill though, so I suppose you’re unique in that regard.”

Every word that came through that damn voice modifier made her want to jam her knife into his stomach. She knew that wasn’t the smartest of moves though. He made it very,  _ very  _ clear that his generosity only extended so far and she kind of liked her insides  _ staying  _ on the inside. Why had she agreed to this again?

He cocked his head to the side. “So?”

“What do you mean ‘so’?”

“You must have quite a few questions rolling around in that head of yours, little detective. Why don’t you go ahead and ask a few? I might just be willing to answer…” He extended a gloved hand to point at the device attached to her hip. “But that stays off. No recording.”

She slowly nodded. “It stays off.” So, he was allowing her to ask him questions? That sounded… Suspicious. “Why are you letting me do this?”

Another shrug. Then he started moving. Her hands curled into fists as she tried to refrain from reaching for her knife. As far as she knew, he didn’t know she was carrying one yet. “Maybe I’m bored and want someone to talk to.” His tassels flitted around by his legs with each step as he slowly paced a circle around her. “Or maybe it’s because I know anything I’ll tell you here won’t ever be taken seriously. The only people who know about this meeting are you and me… But this will satisfy your curious mind, at least. Won’t it?”

“The only thing that’ll satisfy me is bringing you  _ down.” _

He stopped abruptly and started cackling, his mask and modifier distorting it and making it even creepier than it already was. “Oh, that is  _ precious,  _ sweetheart.” He stepped back in front of her. “You might have a fiery little spirit to you, but I doubt you’ll be doing that any time soon.” It could’ve been  _ so  _ easy to just reach out, rip his mask off, and finally expose who that bastard  _ really  _ was. She knew it wouldn’t end well for her though. He had her in a pretty bad situation and she was cursing at herself for agreeing to it. “C’mon now. We don’t have all night.”

She took a step back from him. He was a little too close for comfort. Out of all the questions she could've asked him, one stuck out the most. “What are you after?”

He paused and tilted his head. “What am I after?”

“Every serial killer has a motive. What’s yours?” She had an educated guess for that one, but she still wanted to hear it from him.

“I see…” He chuckled. “Well, I have no real agenda to push. I’m not on any kind of mission from God or whatever that bullshit it. No… You see, what I  _ really  _ love is being the star of the show.” Yep. There it was. “I love the little stories written about my carefully laid out schemes and the way everyone scrambles as they try to figure out how to stop me. I  _ especially  _ love your posts to that blog of yours.”

“What?” He read them? Wait…  _ Of course he would. _

“That’s why I don’t want to kill you just yet. Consider me your biggest fan, Zarina.” That sounded absolutely  _ disgusting  _ coming from him. “You’re the one trying to connect the pieces and carefully edging around the borders of the law while trying to do so. You’re willing to take risks the pigs that claim to protect these streets never would. That’s why you agreed to this, isn’t it? I bet it’s driving you  _ crazy  _ to think no one will  _ ever  _ believe you about this night.” He was taunting her - toying with her like a cat would with a captured mouse. Somehow, that was even worse than him just outright killing her.

Zarina gritted her teeth, not wanting to reply to his provocations.  _ ‘Move on.’  _ She thought to herself.  _ ‘He’s trying to distract you.’  _ She chose to ask another question. “All of your murders are well thought out, right? How did that woman escape you?”

“Other than the fact you decided to play hero and intervene?” There was a hint of malice in those words, as though he was angry about what happened. “She caught me by surprise while I was trying to follow her back home. Took off down an alley, probably hoping to lose me. Problem is, I don’t  _ ever  _ lose my kill… Well, until that night. She’s lucky you were there.”

So, Ghost Face  _ did  _ stalk his targets. Part of her wondered how many he was trying to learn the routines of, but she decided she didn’t want to know. From what she recalled, the first few kills came in a short burst, like he had been planning them for a while. After that, they became more sporadic. So he ran out of targeted victims and had to plan out more?

“I take it you won’t be going after her?”

“Not right now, no. It’s way too much of a risk.” He shook his head. “You should know by now that I’m not stupid, girl. I make  _ sure  _ I don’t get caught.” She was about to respond, but he stepped away from her and looked around, which had her pause. “I think our time is up. Can’t have you getting  _ too  _ comfortable around me.”

She furrowed her brow. His mere presence had her anxious. There was no way she’d  _ ever  _ feel comfortable if she knew he was around. “I’m not done.” Those words came out more forcefully than she intended and he quickly turned to face her.

The cackle he let out shook her to the bone. “I know you aren’t, and I’m not done with you.” Her insides twisted into a knot at those words. Not done  _ with her?  _ “You can keep that phone and call me if you work up the nerve, gal. Just remember that this is  _ our little secret.” _

“We’ll see if I do.”

“That we will.” He took a few steps back, eyes piercing into her through that distorted white mask he wore. “Good luck out there, little detective.” With that, he took off into the night, blending perfectly into the darkness around him.

She just stared at the direction he ran in for a few seconds. Her hands were gripping onto her camera. Was she shaking? Fuck. She quickly made her way back to her apartment. When she got inside, she staggered over to her bed and laid down. That took way more out of her than she had expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idiot. With. Camera. Yes, she thought she could've gotten away with trying to pull a stunt like that.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	14. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed comes over to Zarina's apartment for dinner.

Zarina walked into the Gazette on Friday morning with bags under her eyes and a beanie hiding her unkempt hair. She had spent  _ far  _ too long trying to process her conversation with Ghost Face. After getting a cup of coffee, she sat down and turned on the computer at her desk. As she waited, she heard the sound of footsteps off to her side and turned to see Jed walking towards her.

He looked her over and frowned. “You okay?”

She sighed. Did she _really_ look that bad? “Long night. I woke up too late and couldn’t do much before I had to go.”

“Oh. Yeah, I understand. If you just want to go home and rest, we can do that date another day.” Date? What date? Oh… Right.

She quickly shook her head. “No. It’s fine. We can still do it. I just might need a little more time to prepare.”

“That’s okay. Just call me when you’re ready.”

“I will.” She wanted to bring up the photo she had taken but chose not to. She knew it would have him asking too many questions.  Maybe it was for the best that she just shoved anything having to do with Ghost Face to the back of her mind for a little while and just enjoy a quiet evening.  She waved goodbye and watched him walk off before turning her attention back to her computer. Despite what transpired the previous night, the chance to just relax for a day upped her morale.

* * *

Zarina put a little more effort than usual in her appearance when she got home. Admittedly, she felt a little silly about it. Her normal shirt and jeans were abandoned for a simple, short black dress. Makeup was done. Hair was  _ finally  _ styled.  When she was nearly finished preparing the food, she called Jed to let him know and he said he would be on his way.

There was a knock at the door as she was setting the table. When she walked over and opened it, she was greeted by a man with bright green eyes and a lazy smile, dressed in a plain dress shirt and slacks. Zarina felt almost overdressed in comparison. The way his eyes grazed over her body had her not minding as much though. “Hey.”

“Hey,” She repeated as she moved to the side and let him into her apartment. Her eyes followed him as he went. When he was inside, she shut the door and returned to what she was doing. “I’m not completely done yet, but you can take a seat a while,” She told him as she placed the silverware down. Her eyes flickered over to the food sitting on the counter near the stove. “I might've been able to do more if I remembered to prepare this morning. I worked with what I had, though.”

He sat down and smiled over at her. "I'm sure it'll be great, doll."

She giggled as she walked over to the counter. “Flatterer.” She felt his eyes on her as she prepared the plates. His gaze was one of the few she didn’t mind. It didn't make her anxious. It wasn’t filled with malice or judgment like what she had to deal with before. Instead, it was comforting.

“So you mentioned that cookbook of yours is from your mother?”

Zarina nodded. She thought back to the days when she was younger and watching her mother prepare meals with practiced hands. That was when she was the most in her element. Everything was almost effortless to her. The same couldn’t be said about her daughter though, who constantly stressed over small details - a trait she inherited from her father. “I learned everything I know from her.” She carefully laid out several slabs of meat over a bed of rice. Once the plates were garnished, she brought them over and sat one down in front of him.

“So, what’s this?” His question didn’t come off as snide like the way she was used to hearing from her days in school. Instead, he sounded genuinely curious.

“Beef kafta served over Lebanese-style rice,” She replied as she took a seat across from him.  “It's nothing too crazy. It was one of the quickest things I could think of to make."

“Can't say I've had it before."

"Well, I hope you enjoy it." She couldn't remember another time in her life where she cooked for someone else,  let alone someone she was…  _ Interested  _ in, if that was the right word she could use for whatever she had going on with Jed.

The dinner wasn’t awkward, at least. He brought out his natural charisma and had her laughing at his jokes and blushing at remarks he made. It felt like just another friendly conversation she might’ve had over drinks at Walleyes. There was no need to impress him. There was none of the tension she’d felt from her few experiences on dates before. It was just simply them, and she felt silly for working herself up so much.

After a while, her natural curiosity started taking over. “So, Jed…” He looked up from his mostly finished plate. “You only moved to Roseville a few months ago, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Where are you from?”

He paused, which had Zarina nearly thinking she fucked up over such a simple question. Maybe he wasn’t too fond of something from his past..? “Northern Utah,” He eventually answered, which eased her worries. “I lived there until I was twenty, but I decided I didn’t want to stay in the same place my whole life and started moving around. Colorado, Arkansas, Indiana, Delaware, Pennsylvania… I was living in Ohio before I moved down to Roseville.”

“So you’ve been all over, then?”

“Yeah. What about you?”

She shrugged. “Most of my life was spent in Brooklyn. I only ever left a few times when I wanted to research a case, but always came back after a few weeks.”

“Until you moved here.”

“Yep.”

“Do you plan on going back?”

She thought back to when Alison asked a similar question a couple of weeks prior. Her answer hadn’t changed much since then. “Roseville is pretty different from Brooklyn. It’s pretty refreshing, actually. Serial killer aside, I think it’s a good place for a new start.”

He chuckled. “I guess so.”

“What about you? Do you plan on staying?”

Another pause. He carefully looked her over before replying. “I think I might have a few reasons to stick around. At least for a while.” He gave her the feeling that  _ she  _ had become one of those reasons… And she didn’t mind that.

After they finished up, she took the dishes over to the sink. They could be washed later. “Are you staying the night?” She asked as she glanced back at him.

He stood up and walked over to her. “Yeah, I can if you want.” She  _ definitely  _ wanted that. He backed her up against the counter and brought a hand up to tug at one of the sleeves on her dress. “Especially if it means getting you out of this… As pretty as it looks on you.”

That was all he had to say to her.

* * *

She woke up the next morning to the sound of Jed talking on the phone. When she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw him leaning against the wall with a clear look of disdain written across his features. Whoever he was talking to must've pissed him off. “So what's this problem again?” A pause as whoever was on the other end responded. He rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why I  _ need  _ to go, but I’ll be there soon if it’ll shut him up.” Damn. He hung up the call before giving the other person a chance to reply. When he noticed Zarina looking at him, he sighed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s fine. Who was that?”

“One of the editors from work. Something came up with that article I wrote about the attack the other night. I guess it’s too urgent for them to just email me and wait for a response because it’s getting published tomorrow, so I need to go over there and deal with it.”

“Oh…” She hoped she didn’t look too disappointed.

“Believe me, I didn’t plan on leaving this early, but they’ll be up my ass all day unless I go.” He walked over as she crawled out of bed and got to her feet. He cupped her cheek with his hand and she leaned into it, eyes closing. The feeling of his lips brushing against hers had her immediately moving to deepen the kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, shuddering at the feeling of his hands traveling down her sides. She briefly thought about telling him to forget about whatever they wanted him for, but her sense of responsibility kicked in before she could say anything. She pulled back from the kiss. “Guess you should get going then.”

He nodded as he stepped away from her. “Yeah.” He turned to grab his shirt off the floor. “Thanks for last night, doll. We should do that again.”

“We should.”

After he left, she threw a comfortable shirt on and sat down at her desk. Her eyes flickered to the board in front of her and narrowed. Memories of her little meetup with Ghost Face came flooding back. It was good to have finally gotten a small break, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she returned to her little passion project. He was still active and probably planning on attacking again soon.

She grabbed her notebook and flipped to a blank page as she recalled every little detail she could from that night. Even if he was right and no one would ever believe her, she was going to use whatever she could from that to hopefully connect a few dots.

She was right about his motives - his desire for the spotlight. It wasn’t much of a surprise. What  _ was  _ a surprise was the way he spoke to her. Aside from the condescending tone and frequent threats of physical violence, he acted as though he was just casually talking with her. He seemed almost  _ too  _ relaxed. Fucking psycho.

Zarina managing to save that woman was a complete fluke. She was sure of that now. She wondered how long he’d been doing this. Maybe he had even killed in other places before targeting Roseville? She decided to look into seeing if there were any similar cases elsewhere but wasn’t holding out any hope.

The final thing she was able to draw from her memories was that he almost didn’t take what he was doing seriously. He acted as though it was some sort of sick game, as if human lives weren’t at stake. Everything from the way he talked right down to his body language proved that. The strangest thing was that she knew he understood the gravity of his actions. It seemed like he just didn't care. From everything she’d read about the murders, he was way too calculated to  _ not  _ know. They were sick displays of senseless brutality, not unlike crimes of passion, but they were still carefully planned out. He knew  _ exactly _ what he wanted to do going in.

She threw down her pen in frustration and slumped into her chair. She had spoken to the killer face-to-face and  _ still  _ struggled to fit pieces together. How? Her eyes fell on the desk drawer that held the phone he’d sent her. She reluctantly opened the drawer and grabbed it.

“You’re fucking crazy, Zarina,” She mumbled as she turned the phone over in her hands a few times. Her thoughts turned to what he told her. She was free to call him if she wanted to meet up with him again. After staring at the phone for a solid few minutes, she finally decided to turn it on and call the only number on the contacts list. She steeled herself as the phone rang.

He answered and her skin crawled as he rasped out his greeting through his voice modifier.  _ “Hey there, little detective. I knew it wouldn’t be long before you called again.”  _ That pet name was starting to get on her nerves. Oh well. She had to pick her battles.

The fingers on her free hand balled into a fist, nails digging into her palm. “Where do you want to meet?” 

_ “Straight to the point, eh?” _ She could sense the grin he was sporting even through the phone. She was playing into his hands, and she knew that, and she  _ still wanted to do it.  _ He chuckled, low and dark.  _ “I knew there was a reason why I liked you so much.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta throw some backstory in there for good ol' Ghostie.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	15. All Ears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina meets up with Ghost Face for a second time, determined to get more answers.

Zarina stood in the alley she’d hidden from Ghost Face the first time they met. It was nearly midnight. He’d arrive at any moment. She stared out into the nearby park, waiting for him to come into view. He sure was taking his sweet time getting there. She leaned back against the side of a nearby building and crossed her arms. The whole situation was stupid. Either she had been stood up by a goddamn _serial killer_ that had taken too much of an interest in her… Or he was just planning on killing her and was waiting for her to drop her guard, but such an impromptu attack didn’t exactly fit his M.O.

“Did you think I wouldn’t learn my lesson?” Ghost Face’s filtered voice came from further inside the alley, which nearly had Zarina jumping out of her skin and stumbling away from the wall as she turned to face him. Her eyes darted to him. How long had he been there?

She immediately took a few steps back and nearly reached inside her jacket pocket for her knife, ready to defend herself. When he didn’t move towards her, she ultimately let her arm fall back to her side. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“I saw you over here. Came through the other side so you didn’t get any smartass ideas like last time.”

“Does it look like I have my camera on me?” She did, but it was safely tucked away and out of reach of any psychopaths that would want to _break it over her skull_ _._

“I had a hunch. You better watch your smart mouth though, or it’s gonna get you in trouble.” It was probably best that she listened to him. She just slowly nodded. He finally started to walk towards her as he spoke again. “So, you decided to risk meeting up with me again? I figured you weren’t satisfied enough last time.”

She didn’t want to admit to him that he left her with far more questions than answers after their previous encounter. “You cut it short. I told you I wasn’t done.”

“Right, you did.” He stepped closer and she instinctively wanted to move back but held her ground. “Well, go on then. I’m all ears.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Oooh. You’re starting with a  _ good  _ question this time!” He cackled. “I’ve been killing for a while, but I stepped up my game in Roseville. You see, this place is where I found out what I  _ really  _ like about what I do.”

“And what is that?” Was it a good idea to ask that? Probably not.

Another step forward. “I like the preparation. I like learning every little detail about my target’s routine so I can figure out the perfect time to strike. I  _ love  _ it when a kill goes exactly according to plan.” Zarina could feel the grin from behind his mask as he spoke so enthusiastically about his methods. He acted like a kid talking about their favorite video game. “Don’t get me wrong now. The feeling I get when I plunge my knife into someone’s rib cage is exhilarating, but it’s so much better when I’ve actually  _ worked  _ for the kill.”

Her expression twisted into a sneer. “You’re sick.”

“So I’ve been told. You wanted an answer though, so there it is.” He moved closer yet again, and she found herself finally stepping back. He picked up on that quickly and tilted his head to the side. “What’s wrong, little detective? Are you starting to get antsy? Finally realizing the position you got yourself into?”

“I’m well aware of that… Just stay  _ away  _ from me.”

He laughed as he continued to move forward. “And what are you going to do if I don’t?” She was tempted to go for her knife. Maybe it would catch him off guard and at least buy her some time… But would that be enough? Given his supposedly long track record, probably not. At least he didn’t get  _ too  _ close. “So, what’s next?”

She tried to ignore the fact he was standing just a few feet away as she carefully thought over her next question. He’d been killing for a while. That would’ve been useful if she knew where he’d been before. Chances were he wouldn’t cough up that type of information though. He never gave her  _ quite  _ enough to work with.

“Is nothing coming to mind? What a pity.” He perked up when he thought of something. “In that case, I have a question for you.”

“Do you really think I’ll answer anything you have to ask?” There was that smart mouth again.

“Do you  _ really  _ have a choice?” He was right and she hated that. “Okay, good. You see, what I want to know is why you’re so obsessed with me.”

She shot him a dumbfounded look.  _ “Obsessed?” _ That was an interesting choice in wording.

“A small-time documentarian with no actual investigative training decides to move to a brand new city on the other side of the United States to track down its local serial killer… Yeah. That seems pretty obsessive when you think about it, but the question is  _ why me?” _

She paused and silently debated on how to answer that. “Your… Story stuck out to me.”

“Oh? It did now?” Great. That alone probably gave his ego a healthy boost. “How so?”

Well, there was no taking what she said back. “There’s been multiple murders nearly back-to-back with no particular rhyme or reason to them. The  _ only  _ thing tying them together is occasional glimpses of a man in a white mask shortly before or following their deaths. On top of that, this masked killer is still  _ very  _ active. Yeah. It’s safe to say you stuck out from all the other cases I could’ve pursued. That’s not a good thing though.”

He shook his head. “Maybe not for  _ you, _ but I’m flattered. It’s not every day I get a pretty little thing like you invading my territory and claiming that they want to bring me down. Such a shame you aren’t much closer than the people who are  _ supposed  _ to be doing that.”

“Aren’t you afraid you're going to slip up and tell me something you shouldn’t?”

“I’m way too careful for that. You may  _ think  _ you’ve learned a lot about me, but you’ve only ever learned about  _ Ghost Face. _ What you  _ don’t  _ know about is the really important thing - the one  _ under  _ this.” He tapped his gloved finger against his shitty plastic mask.

“I’ll find out soon enough.”

He laughed. “Good luck with that! You’re standing right in front of me and  _ still  _ don’t have the slightest of clues about who I am.”

She had to stop herself from ripping his mask off again. Sure, it would’ve been satisfying to finally know who he was, but it probably wouldn’t have been worth it if he just killed her right then and there. What was the point in finding out if she wouldn’t live long enough to tell anyone? She’d have to bide her time, even though she hated it.

He clapped his leather-clad hands together. “Well, that’s what  _ I  _ wanted to know. What about you, Zarina? Anything else knocking around in that brain of yours?”

She decided that she hated him using her name. He could spew any amount of condescending pet names he wanted and she would tolerate that. For him to call her Zarina though? That felt… Weird.  _ Intimate, _ even, and that was  _ not  _ something she wanted to feel around a goddamn murderer.

“You’re on a time limit, you know.” His filtered voice brought her away from that train of thought.

Right. Of course. Something ate away at the back of her mind. There was  _ one  _ thing he did that had gone completely against everything she knew-  _ thought  _ she knew about him. Even after learning what little she could through his own words, it felt… Odd. “Why did you let that kid go?”

“Hmm?”

“The one that was caught with the mask. You let him live, and you did it  _ intentionally.  _ I get the feeling it wasn’t out of the kindness of your heart.”

“Ohh,  _ that  _ kid.” He shrugged. “He wasn’t one of my targets. I just happened to catch him out on the street that night, walking home from a friend’s house. The opportunity was too good to pass up… And I think it got the message across.” The message that he was an egotistical freak that didn’t want to share the spotlight? It sure did. “Besides, I never intended to target him anyway. If I want to kill, it has to be on  _ my _ terms. That’s why you’re still alive right now. Well, that and the fact that I like you.” She almost wanted to cringe at the thought of him  _ 'liking'  _ her.

As she tried to come up with some sort of smartass reply, something caught her attention. A few people were walking down the street off to her left. From the sound of it, they were probably drunk and carrying on with one another. She glanced towards Ghost Face, who clearly heard it as well.

He lowered his voice. “Looks like our time’s up, sweetheart. Don’t need anyone catching us out here.”

“Wait…” Couldn’t they just… Hide..? Why did she even  _ think  _ about asking that?

He was already stepping back into the darkened alleyway. “I know. You’re still not done with me, but maybe we should meet up in a place a little more discreet next time.” He held a hand up and waved slowly at her. “See you around, detective.” With that, he just…  _ Disappeared.  _ She tried to follow him, but his dark ensemble allowed him to blend almost seamlessly into the night when she wasn't able to see his mask.

She just stood there, looking into the darkness and thinking that it was insane that she  _ hated  _ how he had just vanished. She  _ knew  _ it was intentional too. He was still toying with her. She cursed under her breath and left the alley. Oh well. Time to go back home and probably crash. The adrenaline she felt while in the presence of a murderer died down soon after he left.

God. She was in such a fucked up position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the random break. I spent pretty much all of Sunday high and then had a D&D session on Monday lol.
> 
> The good news is I was able to outline the next few chapters aaaand I have another short fic partially finished, so you can look forward to that soon. ;)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	16. A Day Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison asks Zarina if she wants to spend the day with their friends.

Zarina managed to drag herself out of bed Sunday morning. She turned her computer on and walked to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. As she waited, she leaned against the counter and ran her fingers through her hair, wincing when they got caught on a tangle. At least she had the day off and could use it to recuperate. After pouring a cup of coffee and digging something out of the fridge to eat, she walked to her desk and sat down.

The corkboard with the articles written about Ghost Face stared back at her. She narrowed her eyes specifically at the one about the kid she’d caught as she mulled over what the killer had told her the previous night. The sick pleasure he got out of what he did made her gut shrivel, even though she should have expected it.

There was something weird about the whole situation though. She should’ve been  _ terrified  _ of him. She should’ve trashed that phone he gave her the second she found out who it was from. She  _ shouldn’t  _ have been sneaking through the streets at night to meet him alone. Yet, she did it anyway. Getting useful information out of him was about as easy as trying to pull teeth. There were probably far better ways to find out what she wanted to know. No, she agreed to it for more than just that. 

As twisted as it was, she got a thrill out of it - the same type of rush she felt when she knew the answers she needed to crack a case wide open was in her grasp… But he dangled those answers just out of reach. It drove her crazy, but also strengthened her resolve. He knew exactly what made her tick and she hated that, especially because she fed  _ right into it. _

She shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind for future processing when she had the mental capacity to withstand it.

Her phone pinged while she was scrolling through her blog and planning out what to write on it next. When she checked it, a soft smile tugged at her lips. Alison wanted to know if she was available to hang out with her and their friend group from work sometime in the afternoon. She quickly agreed and got up to get ready.

* * *

Zarina chose to walk the short distance to the restaurant. The fresh air was something she honestly  _ needed  _ after the previous night. When she got there, she sat down at the table where most of her friends had congregated. A few of them had yet to show up so she just idly looked through the menu as they slowly trickled in. Alison was sitting across from her with a wide, dreamy smile plastered across her face. It took a moment for Zarina to notice, but she cocked an eyebrow at her friend when she did. “Had a good time last night?”

Alison nodded. “She was  _ amazing.” _

“She?” Zarina recalled her brief conversation with Alison on Wednesday. Nothing about the gender of her friend’s date had come up. She must’ve realized it too, judging by the way her eyes widened and her grin faltered. Whatever concern she might’ve had was alleviated when Zarina smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, Ali.”

Hands reached out and settled on Alison’s shoulders before she had the chance to respond. “So when do  _ I  _ get to meet this lucky girl?” Jace cackled at how she groaned at him. “Listen, big bro Jason has to make sure she’s got nothing but good intentions for you.”

“I’m twenty-three, Jay. I can handle myself!” She reached up to shove him away from her. “And we’re not even related!” Zarina couldn’t help but chuckle at the two as they bickered.

“You two  _ do  _ realize we’re in public, right?” Natalie asked as she eyed her younger coworkers. Maybe it was the disapproving inflection in her tone, but they soon settled down.

She hadn’t even noticed Jed enter, let alone sit down in the chair next to her. “Hey, doll.” His voice had her immediately looking in his direction. There was a moderate amount of chatter and other diner ambiance going on, but she still  _ should  _ have been able to hear him walk over.

“Oh. Hey. When did you get here?”

“Just sat down.” He leaned back in his chair and gave her a lazy smile. “I was in the middle of something when Alison texted me, so it took a little while to respond.”

“You could’ve told me you were busy, Jed,” Alison said.

Jace cackled. “Like he’d miss out on an opportunity to ogle at his-” He was interrupted when Alison jabbed him in the arm with her elbow.

Jed chose to ignore his comment entirely. “It’s fine. Wasn’t anything too important.” His eyes returned to Zarina and that smile dropped when he finally had a good look at her. He lowered his voice. “Are you doing okay? You look a little tired.”

She was hoping he wouldn’t notice. “I’m fine. I just lost track of time last night. Went to bed late.” Hopefully, that would suffice as enough of an excuse. The last thing she needed was for  _ anyone, _ let alone  _ him, _ to find out what she  _ really  _ had been up to.

He seemingly accepted her excuse. “Don’t overwork yourself.”

That earned him an awkward laugh. “Staying up late is nothing compared to what I’ve done for my work in the past.” She still remembered the numerous sleepless nights she went through when she was pursuing Clark Stevenson. She’d been fueled by the painful loss of her father and a countless number of cups of coffee. It wore her thin, but everything had been worth it in the end. Being able to finally unmask Ghost Face would be the same.

Not long after the remainder of the group settled down in their seats, a waitress came over and took orders for their drinks. They all chatted among themselves. Louis was going on a fishing trip with his brothers the next weekend and Natalie gushed over how scenic the lake they were going to was. Jace mentioned something about a short film he was going to start working on, and even hinted to Zarina that she should give him a hand with it. Alison was still somewhat lost in her first date bliss, which Jace teased her for. Nathan remained quiet for the most part unless directly spoken to. He was never much of a talker, but still smiled and laughed along with the group.

“And what about our crime-solving duo over here?” Jace asked, directing the attention over to Zarina and Jed.

“Crime-solving?” Jed asked.

“Would you have preferred me calling you serial killer groupies?” The blond started laughing when Zarina spat out her drink. The glare she shot at him as she wiped her mouth only made it worse. “Oh co-me  _ on,  _ Z.” He could barely get sentences out between his childish giggles. “You m-ake it way too easy to- to do that!”

“Ass,” Zarina mumbled under her breath as she unraveled the cloth napkin from her silverware to clean up the iced tea she sprayed everywhere. At least it didn’t hit anyone.

“I mean, I’m not  _ completely  _ wrong here, am I?” He looked around at the others sitting at the table as if trying to get them to agree with him. She wondered how he hadn’t pulled a muscle in his face with how wide he was grinning.

Jed decided to speak up before Jace dug himself into a hole he couldn’t talk his way out of. “Well, Friday was eventful.” He glanced over to Zarina. She saw the smirk that was starting to play at the corners of his mouth. Oh no. “Never would’ve guessed that she knows her way around a kitchen.”

Alison perked up. “Oooh, she  _ cooked  _ for you?”

“He told me that he’s never eaten Lebanese cooking before. I made it for him.” Zarina shrugged her shoulders in the most nonchalant way she could manage. “It’s not  _ that  _ big of a deal, Ali.”

Thankfully, the conversation ended when the waitress arrived once more to take their orders. Despite the occasional teasing, that day went well. After everyone ate, they headed outside and split off into a few smaller groups. Jed offered to drive her home since it was starting to get dark, which she accepted.

She sat quietly in the passenger seat as they drove out of the parking lot. Her eyes went from the digital camera she had stashed away in her jacket pocket to Jed. Part of her wanted to use the opportunity to tell him about Ghost Face. The picture she still had of him stored on the camera should have been enough to prove she wasn’t completely crazy. Out of  _ everyone  _ she knew, she figured Jed would be the one to understand her actions. 

Something still stopped her though. Maybe it was because of how she hated it whenever anyone worried about her - which he undoubtedly would. Maybe she just needed more time to figure out how to go about explaining things. Yeah. It was definitely that.

“You seem distracted,” Jed commented as he drove. “You have been all day. What’s up?” It was way too easy to forget how perceptive he was.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing. Just tired.”

He wasn’t easy to fool either. “Zarina, you can tell me.”

Could she though? “I’ve just had a lot to think about recently.”

“About what?” Was this guy for real?

She let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in her seat. “I’d rather just not talk about it right now.”

He finally relented and shrugged. “Alright.” After pulling up to a red light, he turned his attention from the road for a few seconds to look her over. “How’s your research into Ghost Face going.” Now  _ that  _ was something she was okay with talking about.

“About as well as you’d expect. That guy’s an enigma, even among serial killers.” She thought back to what little information she was able to get out of him. “You’ve seen some of the crime scene photos, right?” He responded with a nod and she continued. “They’re gore fests. He takes pleasure in making people suffer but is also so crazily methodical about it. Sometimes it looks like  _ everything  _ was intentionally placed a specific way.”

“So he wants to put on a show?”

“Yeah, and that’s not a new concept. Other serial killers have done it before too, but he still somehow manages to stand out.” She tilted her head back and sighed. “I think I’m reading too far into this.”

Jed chuckled. “No wonder you’re so tired. Give that overworked brain of yours a break sometimes, Z.”

“I probably should, shouldn’t I?” Was she really able to with a serial killer prowling the streets though? “At least I have someone to talk about this with, unlike when I was pursuing Stevenson.”

“What about your followers?”

She shook her head. “It’s not the same when I’m just reading comments on a post. I’ve always preferred being able to speak to people face-to-face. You can learn so much more that way than you could from reading text on a screen.” She glanced over at him and smirked. “It also helps when I happen to enjoy the person’s company.”

“Does it now?”

She slowly traced her fingers up his arm, enjoying the way he tensed up under her touch. He cursed under his breath as he pulled into the apartment building’s parking lot. She switched from his arm to his leg, gently trailing her fingertips along his thigh, moving inward. Just as she brushed against the front of his pants, he pulled into a spot and yanked the key from the ignition. When he looked at her, his gaze was intense… And not exactly in a scary way.

“So, do you want to stay for a little while?”

Did she even have to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another in-between chapter before things start to pick up again.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	17. Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina is conflicted about her involvement with Ghost Face. She finally works up the courage to tell someone about it.

Zarina sat on her bed Tuesday morning, eyes fixated on the TV screen in front of her. Sunday night was amazing. Monday was pleasantly uneventful. She should’ve known the peace wouldn’t stay for too long though.

Another murder - a single woman in her late forties living up in northern Roseville. Whether Ghost Face was involved or not was still unconfirmed, but who else could it have been? Excluding the two still alive, that woman was his eighth victim.

Truthfully, Zarina felt horrible. There had been at least two different occasions where she could have at least  _ tried  _ to do something to stop him. Even if she failed, it would’ve been better than just letting him wander off into the night, knowing that he was going to kill again eventually. In a way, this woman’s blood was on her hands as well, and that was the worst feeling in the world.

Her eyes flickered to her desk for a brief moment. She still had a line of communication with him. It took a lot of willpower for her to not grab that phone and call him. Chewing him out probably wouldn’t do anything other than make him angry… Or amuse him. She had a hard time deciding which would be worse. He was probably waiting for her to contact him anyway, and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction by doing so.

She took a deep breath in and let it out in a long sigh as she hit the power button on her remote. Enough of that for now. She got up and made her way towards the bathroom. Maybe scalding hot water could distract her from her destructive thoughts for a little while.

* * *

The entire Gazette was buzzing that morning. While Zarina was still glad that no one treated Ghost Face like a taboo topic anymore, she was still secretly kicking herself. The only good thing was that her meetings with him were still under wraps. Not even her closest friends knew. It was also the worst thing because of that as well.

“My uncle was her neighbor,” Jace told the small group around him. The usual chipperness in both his tone and facial expression was absent. “He said that she was the sweetest person he knew.”

“Wasn’t she one of the women that reported being stalked a few weeks back?” Louis asked, to which Jace nodded. “So that pretty much confirms it then. She was one of his targets.”

“Probably, but we’ll have to wait and find out.” His eyes moved to Zarina as she sat down at her desk. “What do you think?”

She looked back at him and shrugged. “Who else could it have been?” From what little information she had on the murder, it had Ghost Face’s name written all over it. “They’ll find evidence to tie him to it eventually.”

A voice from off to Zarina’s side cut the conversation short. “And for the time being, you would be wise to keep what theories you all might have to yourselves.” Charlie stood before the group, clutching an opened manila envelope to his chest with one arm. He wore his usual scowl, but there was something else behind it that time. Something more solemn. Everyone fell silent, so he just continued along his way to his desk.

Natalie was the only one out of the small group that didn’t look confused. She glanced around at the others and lowered her voice. “I didn’t think he was going to come in today.”

Jace cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

“That woman was his sister.”

Another round of silence. They all decided to busy themselves with work instead of continuing the conversation. The day continued uneventfully until Zarina took her lunch break and Natalie approached her in the break room.

“Can I talk to you for a moment, dear?” Her voice had Zarina looking up. She nodded and gestured for her to sit down. “I noticed how off you seemed this morning. Is everything alright?” Out of  _ everyone  _ at work, the person that confronted her just  _ had  _ to be one of the hardest to lie to. It was for the best that she didn’t even try.

“I’ve been… Conflicted about something recently. I don’t want to trouble you with it.” She kept her eyes down at her salad to avoid having to face the look of concern staring back at her.

Natalie sighed at the vague answer. “You won’t be troubling me, Zarina. What’s wrong?”

“It’s personal. I just… Have some things I need to sort out.” She hated how shutting people out became a habit. It only added to her guilt, especially because it was her own  _ friends  _ that she was shutting out. All in favor of keeping her communications with Ghost Face a secret when she shouldn’t have been talking to him, to begin with.

A hand reached across the table and rested on top of hers. “I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I can see that something is bothering you. Please don’t be afraid to open up to any of us if you need to.”

“I won’t be, Nat.”

The older woman smiled weakly and pulled her hand away. Zarina ate her lunch in silence afterward. Natalie’s words stuck with her throughout the rest of the day. Finally telling someone might help… But who could she trust that sort of information with? 

One person came to mind.

Even opening up to Jed Olsen felt like a risk. He shared her strange passion about Ghost Face, but to what extent? Agreeing to meet up with a known serial killer at night might’ve just been a little  _ too  _ crazy for him, and the last thing she wanted was to drive him away. What other choice did she have though? Hopefully, he would at least  _ try  _ to understand why she was doing this. Maybe it’d make  _ her  _ understand why as well.

Zarina got home that evening and sat down on her bed for a few minutes, debating on what to do. She stared down at her phone for a while. Jed’s number stared back at her.  _ ‘No more hiding things.’  _ She thought to herself as she took a long, deep breath as she dialed it.

A slightly confused Jed answered her call.  _ “What’s up, Z?” _

“Can you come over for a little while?” She asked. “I need to talk to you about something?”

_ “Are you okay?” _

“Y-yeah. I’m fine,” She fumbled. “Just please come over if you can.”

_ “I’ll be there in a bit.” _

“Thank you.” She hung up and sat the phone off to her side. She found herself lost in what to tell him when he got there. How was she supposed to explain her actions to him? He was probably going to think she was psychotic.

There was a knock at her door, bringing her out of her destructive thoughts. How long had it been? A glance at her phone showed it to be longer than she thought. She walked over and opened it. A pair of bright green eyes greeted her.

“You caught me in the middle of something, but I came as soon as I could. What did you want to talk about.”

She stepped to the side and allowed him in, shutting the door behind him afterward. As she did, she tried to formulate an answer. No lies. “Something happened the other day. Do you remember that package I got at my desk?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“It was from Ghost Face.”

He fell silent, probably trying to process what she just told him. “A package from Ghost Face?  _ What?” _

“He wanted to get in contact with me. I guess I impressed him when I saved that woman.”

“A known serial killer wanted to get in contact with you after you saved one of his victim’s lives? I hope you didn’t take him up on that offer.” Zarina’s expression told him everything he needed to know. “You didn’t…”

She grabbed her digital camera off of her desk. After sifting through a few photos, she came across the one of Ghost Face that she captured the first night they met - the only thing she had as proof. The white mask was one of the few things visible in the darkness that engulfed him. A painful chill coursed up her spine and she quickly handed the camera to Jed. He stared back at the image in shock… But not necessarily disbelief. Curious.

“Zarina, if you’re actually meeting up with this guy, you-”

She quickly cut him off. “I know that my life’s on the line. Strangely enough, he’s not that interested in killing me.”

“For  _ now.”  _ Right. He set the camera down and walked over to her. She quickly reciprocated the hug he pulled her into. Despite the number of times she slept with him, she couldn’t remember things feeling so intimate. His fingers combed through her hair and she almost melted into his touch. “Don’t get yourself into trouble.”

Her arms slipped around him. “I’ll try not to.” She knew she couldn’t give him any promises, and it seemed as though he knew that as well.

He pulled back and there was something off about the way he looked at her. His steely expression rarely faltered, but she could’ve sworn she saw something behind it for the briefest of seconds. It wasn’t a look of complete concern. No, there was something more, but she couldn’t tell what, and that bothered her.

“Are you alright?” It was funny that  _ she  _ was asking  _ him  _ that after spilling her guts about one of her darkest secrets.

“No. I’m not.” Well, that was pretty blunt, but it was also probably the answer she should’ve expected from him. He pulled away from her completely and raked his fingers through his hair. She finally realized what that other emotion was. He was conflicted about something, but she couldn’t even begin to guess what it was. “I have to go. I have a few things I still need to do.”

That hurt more than it probably should have, especially because she knew she had interrupted him. “Oh, yeah. I should let you get back to what you were doing.” She wasn’t about to beg him to stay. They said their goodbyes and Zarina quietly watched as he left. Something was telling her to stop him and apologize. The last thing she wanted to do was stress him out. What good was an apology if she already knew she was just going to repeat her actions though? It was probably for the best that she just gave him some time to process what she admitted to instead of potentially digging herself into a deeper hole.

She sat down at her desk and picked up her camera. She found the picture of Ghost Face again and stared at it for a long while, reflecting on her brief encounters with him. Those memories were some of the most lucid ones she had. It was to the point that simply imagining the sound of his voice through his modifier had her wincing. She placed the camera down and turned her attention to her computer screen. She had planned on finally looking more into serial killers in an attempt to connect some of the many loose ends she still had that night. It was time to actually get to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my sparse updates recently. I can go through periods of just lacking interest in writing sometimes. I'm a little refreshed though and might get back to a decent upload schedule soon. I have an ending in mind as well. Now it's just a matter of planning all the in-between stuff out, and that is gonna take a while. Honestly, I can see this thing /easily/ exceeding 25 chapters (probably even 30), which is gonna be a hell of an undertaking compared to everything I've written in the past, but I'm excited to do it!
> 
> Also, I may or may not go back on having the inspiration fic I wrote for Zarina and Ghost Face being a single chapter. I really enjoy writing the banter I write for these two so you may see more of it there... ;)
> 
> Anyway, dumb rambling over. Thanks for reading!


	18. Stay The Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina and Jed go out to Walleyes. Later on, he invites her back to his place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1k hits! Have a nice, long, smut-ridden chapter as thanks!

Tuesday night was spent scouting around online for information into the wee hours of the morning. Zarina knew some serial killers had reasons for interacting with the media, and even investigators working on their case. They often had reasons for it as well. Maybe they had a message to spread or a story to tell, or maybe they wanted to bask in chaos. Some of them just liked the attention and probably got off to the feeling of being just out of reach. 

From what she could tell, Ghost Face was that type, and that was probably why he was so eager to meet up with Zarina. She gave him what he wanted with practically no risk because he knew she wasn’t going to tell. Who would believe her if she did anyway? Chances were even Jed still had his doubts. She was lucky that he didn’t pry too hard when she told him.

Those thoughts swarmed around her sleep-deprived brain on Wednesday as she tried to work, making it damn near impossible to do so. Her ability to concentrate was practically nonexistent. She finally decided to get up and grab another cup of coffee. Hopefully, the brief distraction would grant her some time to clear her mind enough to at least start on the piece she was supposed to write.

As she walked by Jed, she couldn’t help but notice the glare he was giving his computer screen. She thought back to their conversation the previous night and winced. Was he upset? She chose to not ask questions and quickly moved along. He seemed busy anyway.

Her lunch break rolled around. She gathered up her things and walked into the small break room. Her initial plan was to go over what little she learned about Ghost Face from their brief interactions. It was probably her hundredth time doing so, but that wasn’t about to stop her from doing it again. Things changed when she saw Jed sitting alone at a table, chewing idly at the cap of his pen. A notebook was laid out in front of him, full of his messy cursive handwriting. Well, she couldn’t avoid him forever.

“Hey.” She set her things down across from him and took a seat. It was hard for her to read his handwriting, but a few key elements she  _ could  _ make out clued her into what he was working on. “How’s that article on the new victim coming?”

“Swimmingly,” He responded, not looking up from his writings. It didn’t take a genius to pick up on the irritation in his voice.

Zarina frowned. Was he mad at her? That was the last thing she wanted. “I’m sorry if I-”

He cut her off quickly. “It’s not about last night, Z.” That was a relief, but she was still concerned. He was able to tell. “I’m just overworked is all. Boss has been breathing down my neck since that piece on the copycat. I think he’s enjoying my ghost stories a little too much.” Or his wallet was. The Gazette had seen a healthy increase in sales in the previous weeks.

“Yeah, I can get that.” She fell silent as she mulled over what to say next. Her eyes fell to her notes on Ghost Face. Jed knew her darkest secret. Maybe she could benefit from that? “Hey, do you want to go to Walleyes tonight?”

“That’s typically where I go after work days like this. I’m guessing there’s something you want to talk to me about?”

“I-I mean… If you don’t want to, we could just-”

“It’s fine, Zarina. I always find your thoughts on this guy… Interesting.”

She smiled weakly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The two spent the rest of the break casually chatting and the day breezed by uneventfully.

* * *

Jed promised to pick her up after he took a quick trip home to change, so she went over what to say to him while she waited. Soon enough, she was in the passenger seat of his car, and then at Walleyes. Drinks were ordered before she got on the topic they went there to discuss, and they chose to not sit at the bar table.

“So, you spoke personally to him?” He asked, careful to not use the killer’s moniker just in case someone overheard… As if it were possible to hear a quiet conversation in the back of a bar over the music and chatter.

She nodded. “Face-to-face… Twice.”

_ “Twice?” _

“Yeah. I’m surprised that I’m still alive too.” That was an understatement. She acted like she had a death wish, given how she was practically spitting in the face of it. “I don’t know what I expected from him, but he still managed to defy those expectations. It sounds weird, but…”

“I get it. Don’t worry.” He leaned in and looked her over. “You’re pretty brave.”

“I feel stupid, actually.” At least she was honest. “Even after meeting with him multiple times, I  _ still  _ don’t have anything useful. He’s selective about what he tells me, but I guess that’s not a surprise.”

“Alright then. What  _ did  _ you learn?”

“I confirmed a few suspicions about how he operates. He wants the spotlight, which is pretty obvious after what happened with Rickie.”

“Rickie?”

“The kid from the park.”

“Oh.”

She did  _ not  _ want to think about Rickie. “He plans things out carefully. I get the feeling that he learns everything he can about his target before he strikes. The worst part is he practically gets off to it.” A shiver crawled down her back. “The way he talked about it… God.”

“That bad, huh?”

Another nod. “He’s way too enthusiastic about stalking and killing people. No wonder his victims are so all over the place. It’s more about the act than the person he’s performing that act on.”

“Keen observation. You’re pretty talented, Zarina.”

“I just have a knack for recognizing patterns. I got it from my father.”

“Your father, eh?” He tilted his head. “You don’t talk about your family much, outside of your mother’s cooking expertise.”

“It’s difficult to.” She shuffled around in her seat awkwardly, gaze on anything but Jed. “My father was killed by Clark Stevenson. Even though I brought that bastard down, it still haunts me… But it’s also the reason why I’m so passionate about what I do. If I didn’t find out that bastard's true motives, he would have gotten off easy.”

“Right, you mentioned your father in that documentary.”

“It was a tribute to him… But I tried to not focus on that. I wanted justice, not revenge.”

“Fair enough.”

“Since you’re so interested in my family, what about yours?”

That had him pausing long enough for Zarina to grow concerned. Had she struck a nerve by asking that? Much to her relief, he started speaking again. “Like I told you before; I was raised in an all-American household. Had those values pushed down my throat when I was growing up… Along with a few other things.”

“You didn’t like that?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Sometimes. It wasn’t all bad, but it’s kind of… Difficult to explain.”  _ Now  _ he was uncomfortable. His unreadable expression faltered once again, giving way to something more personal - raw, even. Was he..? “My parents could get strict, especially my father. He’s pretty old-fashioned, to put it lightly.” She didn’t want to pry, but her curiosity was taking over. He must’ve picked up on that. “Let’s just say if I brought  _ you  _ around him, he wouldn’t react well to it.” That confirmed her suspicions. “I haven’t spoken to him or my mother since I left Utah. I wanted to put that all behind me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t apologize, doll. You’re fine.”

She smiled. A hand reached out and placed itself over his. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you turned out pretty okay.”

“Thanks. Reckless serial killer chasing aside, you did too.” That had them both laughing. “You’re pretty brave. Not a whole lot of people would openly discuss how they spoke to a murderer in the middle of his hunting grounds.”

The color drained from her face. “I…”  _ Fuck.  _ Walleyes felt so  _ normal.  _ The fact that man could be skulking around somewhere within its wall hadn’t even crossed her mind.

He laughed again, a bit harder than before. “Don’t worry. I think you’re fine.” Hopefully. The last thing she wanted was to do was potentially put his life at risk. “But, if you  _ are  _ concerned, we could go somewhere else. I don’t live too far from here.”

“I think I’d like that.”

* * *

They left the bar after a few drinks and more normal conversation. Jed’s flirting affected her a bit more than usual. He clearly enjoyed the blush he coaxed from her and the way she had to occasionally avert her gaze. The hand that’d occasionally find its way to her inner thigh as they drove back to his house later that night helped absolutely  _ nothing.  _ He knew the right buttons to push… And she secretly loved that.

Admittedly, Zarina had found herself wondering what his place would look like. A stereotypical bachelor pad? No. He wasn’t the type for that. Maybe something homier? Or it could’ve just been a place he crashed at and nothing more. She wasn’t expecting what she saw when they walked in.

Everything was surprisingly neat. It wasn’t  _ too  _ neat, but he took care of the small one-story house. They entered the living room. His small kitchen could be seen through the doorway to her right. A hall led to several doors to various rooms.

The biggest thing that stood out was the wall directly in front of her. It was practically  _ covered  _ with various newspaper articles. A lot of them were about Ghost Face if the pictures of the distorted white mask on them were anything to go by. Some of them had red scribblings, as though he was trying to piece something together through them, which wasn’t that much of a surprise. From what she could see, a lot of the clippings were penned by Jed himself, even ones not relating to the resident serial killer.

Jed walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m pretty passionate about my work.”

“Clearly.” No wonder he hadn’t thought her cluttered corkboard in her apartment wasn’t weird. “God, I never would have expected  _ this.”  _ She turned to face him. “You’re a thirty-one-year-old columnist for a newspaper business. This place suits some jaded detective nearly twice your age.”

He laughed. “Hey, now. What’s that supposed to mean?”

She rested her hands against his chest and found herself captivated by his gaze. Something about it felt… Intense, and not in a bad way. “Maybe you just have an old soul?”

He trailed his fingers up her sides and leaned in. “I hope that doesn’t turn you off.” The lowered, almost seductive tone in his voice brought heat to her face.

“Not in the slightest.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to close the small gap between them. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, practically keeping him locked in place. Teeth grazing her lower lip caused her to shudder. He moved to her jawline, and then her neck, slowly peeling her jacket off to get more access. She tilted her head to the side as a moan escaped her lips.

He pulled back and grabbed one of her arms. She blinked a few times, confused by the sudden action. That confusion subsided when he led her to his bedroom. She was pushed onto his bed rather unceremoniously, and he was on top of her not long afterward. Slowly, but surely, clothing came off until they were only in their underwear.

If there was one thing Zarina had gathered about Jed during the nights they spent together, it was that he liked control -  _ loved  _ it, even. Normally, she was all for letting him pin her down and take her. He was familiar with her anatomy by that point and knew what made her tick, and he wasn’t afraid to use that knowledge against her. She was usually completely fine with that but wanted something different that time.

She nudged his shoulder. The simple motion had him pulling back, eyebrow raised. She capitalized on the small window and shoved him off of her. He looked up in shock as she climbed on top of him. A roll of her hips against the bulge in his underwear silenced whatever questions he might’ve had. Instead, he just smirked. Alright. He’d play her game. His hands settled on her thighs, and hers gripped tightly onto his shoulders. Taking control in the bedroom was… New for her. If she wasn’t careful, it’d probably get to her head.

She let out a breathy moan. The friction, even through thin walls of fabric, was exhilarating. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. She adored the grunts and grumbles she pulled from him with every roll of her hips. They only added to the heat building up inside of her. Before either of them got too far gone, she reluctantly stilled herself and God  _ damn  _ he almost let out a pathetic whine. He stifled it and she had to force back the giddy laugh that built up in her throat. She got to him so easily.  _ That  _ went to her head and the corners of her mouth twisted upwards into a devious smile. She had him by the throat and they both knew it, but he didn’t look too ashamed. Actually, he mostly looked confused.

He moved to sit upright as she pushed off of him and got onto her knees by the edge of the bed. She winced at the scratchy feeling of the rug on her bare knees but pushed herself to work through it. Her fingers looped around the waistband of his underwear. He sighed contently as she freed him from the last of his confinement. He was stupidly hard - another sign that, despite the foreign situation she had him in, he was still  _ clearly  _ getting off to it.

She wrapped her slender fingers around his length and gave it a few long strokes, enjoying the sigh it brought from him. She pressed a light kiss to the base of his shaft before dragging her tongue up along the underside of it all the way up to the tip. A hand tangled itself in her curly hair as she slowly took him in. She stopped about halfway before pulling back to the head. She glanced up as she swirled her tongue around it to see his eyes were lidded and his head was tilted back slightly. If her mouth wasn’t occupied, she probably would have grinned at the sight. After taking a deep breath through her nose, she plunged back down and found a decent rhythm.

Jed’s eyes eventually shut completely. She was treated to more low grunts and groans. Meanwhile, his fingers gently combed through her hair as a form of praise… And probably to keep himself from simply grabbing her by the back of her head and forcing her down. She was grateful for his restraint. It wasn’t her first time doing this, even with him, but she still didn’t have quite enough skill to handle all of him just yet.

After pulling back, she continued slowly stroking him as she looked him over. He was looking back and she loved the look of ecstasy he wore. She smiled almost sheepishly. “Do you have-”

He didn’t let her finish her question. He leaned over to his end table and practically threw open the drawer. After a few seconds of blindly searching, he found what he wanted and slammed the drawer shut once again before handing it off to her.

She took it and crawled onto the bed again, pulling off the remainder of her clothing as he shuffled around. She ripped open the foil and rolled the condom down his length before throwing a leg over him to straddle his hips. After carefully positioning herself, she sunk down, slowly taking him inch by inch. She was pretty sure he was going to leave bruises with how tightly he was holding onto her hips as she started riding him, but she hardly cared at that moment.

The pace was slow at first as she took the time to adjust herself to the new position. She kept her eyes trained on his face, loving the doped up smirk he wore as he stared back at her. It was strange how very  _ not  _ Jed-like he looked. There was no glint of mischief in his deep green eyes. No expressionless look. No push to take control of the situation. If it wasn’t for the fact she was so acutely familiar with his features due to the number of times she’s analyzed him since they met, she almost would have thought this  _ wasn’t  _ the Jed she knew from work.

Those thoughts were pushed aside as she finally picked things up. Each rough grind brought a moan or grunt or growl. She  _ loved  _ the way he growled. It had her trembling in the best ways possible. Her nails dug into the skin on his shoulders as she worked at him, leaving tiny crescent marks in their wake.

She could’ve stayed like that forever, taking in every sound or movement he made under her and loving the way it made her feel. Her orgasm came fast and hard. She nearly doubled over as she rode it out and moaned his name. When she stilled to collect herself, a rough shove to her side caught her completely off guard. She collided with the mattress and rolled onto her back. The look on Jed’s face as he hovered over her told her everything she needed to know. She had her fun. He was ready to have his. She was fine with that.

He pushed back inside of her and did  _ not  _ go easy. She scrambled to get a hold on him as he propped himself up with his hands. Nails accidentally scraped down his back and he outright  _ hissed  _ at the sensation… But didn’t reprimand her. She took it as a sign and dug them into his skin again and brought them down with more intent that time, causing him to thrust a bit harder than before. She’d have to file the strange discovery away for the time being because she was far too caught up with what was already going on.

He was quickly reaching his climax. After a few particularly rough thrusts, he bottomed out one last time and came with a loud groan. She went limp under him, arms landing somewhere by her head. He shuffled off of her and sat down on the bed, hand gently massaging her thigh, which had her cooing softly.

“Where did  _ that  _ come from?” He asked through labored breaths, which had her looking over.

“I dunno,” She responded, equally as winded.

“You’re full of surprises, babe.”  _ ‘Babe?’  _ “First work. Now that.”

An even darker blush than what she was already wearing spread across her face as she thought back to their little experience the previous week. Sometimes she still didn’t believe that happened. When she felt movement, her attention returned to Jed, who was standing up.

“Give a minute,” He told her as he walked towards the door.

She silently watched as he left, mind too clouded with ecstasy from the wild encounter to form a reply… She liked the way his legs wobbled slightly, primarily because she was the one who did that to him. When he disappeared beyond the doorway, she turned her head to face the ceiling, eyes fluttering closed.

When he returned, he asked if she wanted to stay for the night… Though there wasn’t much of a point in asking. She curled up next to him, peppering his jaw and neck with kisses as he softly stroked her hair. After a little while, she rested her head against his chest and slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate chapter title: Danny plays stupid while Zarina talks about her experiences with Ghost Face.
> 
> It doesn't roll off the tongue all that well though.
> 
> Also some of Danny's backstory to go along with it.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	19. The First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina's night out with her friends is interrupted by Ghost Face, who has something to confess.

Friday evening came around. Alison asked everyone at work on Thursday if they wanted to go out to a bar. Louis already had plans with his brothers and Natalie had a date night with her husband. Other than those two, everyone else agreed. The place agreed upon wasn’t anything too crazy. Alison had celebrated her twenty-first birthday there and had been frequenting it ever since.

When Zarina arrived, she located her friend group by the bar and found Alison’s new girlfriend tagged along as well. There was only one person not accounted for.

“This is just like him,” Jace told Zarina as she looked around. “We went out for a guy’s night not too long ago. He showed up late then too. Guess he’s just not used to these types of things yet.”

“That’s fine.” She took a seat next to Alison and was quickly introduced to the woman next to her - Liv. She stood a few inches taller than Alison, with shoulder-length brown hair, fox-like features, and a lip ring on the right side of her mouth.

Things went by smoothly. Jed arrived after about half an hour and apologized for being late. Zarina already had a buzz going on, which was something she hadn’t felt in a while. The smile across her face as Jed sat down next to her proved it. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he leaned in and kissed her. She returned it a bit too eagerly, temporarily forgetting about the people around her. When he pulled back, she noticed the amused look on his face. Realization kicked in.

“Someone’s sure glad you made it,” Jace commented from a few seats down.

“Guess she is,” He responded, which had Zarina blushing heavily. The smirk he wore didn’t help anything. Neither did the wink he gave her. “Not that I mind.”

She groaned and flagged the bartender down to order another drink.

The night carried on as it typically did when her friends met up. Pictures were taken, laughs were shared. There was a healthy dose of teasing from Jace, who was only encouraged by Alison. Jed didn’t help anything with the looks he shot her and the way he’d all-too casually run his hand down her back or up her leg. She couldn’t hate the way he got to her, but  _ damn _ it was frustrating sometimes.

After a couple of hours, Jed excused himself and walked towards the bathroom. Zarina’s attention was brought to Alison when she nudged her shoulder.

“So…” She leaned against the bartop. “You and Jed, huh?”

Zarina’s mind flashed back to when Alison said the same thing a few weeks before… When she denied the notion of  _ ever  _ getting involved with him. “Things can change.”

Her friend gave her a lopsided grin. “I saw it from the start, and not just with you.” She glanced in the direction Jed walked in a few minutes prior. “He almost always kept to himself before you showed up. Jace and Louis managed to kind of befriend him, but even then…” She shook her head and looked back at Zarina. “Teasing aside, I’m really happy for the both of you. There  _ is  _ something I gotta ask though.”

Couldn’t this be saved for when Zarina was sober? She was a slow drinker, but the alcohol was still getting to her. “What?”

“Where do you think it’s gonna go?”

That wasn’t something she ever thought about. It was one thing to just spend nights together. She had hookups before, but something about Jed was different from them. “I… Don’t know. I think it’s still too early.”

She giggled and shook her head. “You’ll figure it out someday. Then you’re gonna be wondering why you didn’t listen to me, to begin with.”

“Since when did  _ you  _ become a matchmaker, Ali?”

That giggle turned into full-on laughter, which was contagious. “Call it my intuition. You two have a lot in common outside of just Ghost Face. There's something there, and it doesn’t take a genius to see it.”

Zarina’s attention was brought away from Alison when her phone went off. A text message? It was ten at night and most of the people she talked to sat around her at the bar. She looked at it and her heart damn near stopped beating when she saw the number. It almost had her checking to make sure she was holding the right phone.

_ ‘Nice little gathering you got there, detective.’ _

The fingers of her free hand balled into a fist. Any semblance of a buzz she still had going died down almost altogether as her heart started racing.

“Everything alright, Z?” Alison asked, which had her looking over.

“Yeah. I just need to deal with something real quick.” She got up from her seat. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay…”

Zarina quickly walked out of the building and called the number. Ghost Face sure took his sweet time answering but eventually did. She wasn’t about to let him get the first words in. “How the  _ hell  _ did you get this number?”

_ “I’ve had it for a while now, sweetheart,” _ He responded.  _ “I just wanted to see the look on your face when you realized that the burner I gave you was only meant to lure you into false security.” _

She cursed and quickly looked around. He was watching her but from where? The parking lot was empty, and it was difficult seeing beyond the nearby street lights. He was messing with her and she was falling for it. “Where are you at?”

_ “Around…”  _ Fucking  _ asshole. _

She growled at the vague response. “This isn’t funny!”

_ “It is for me.” _

“Just tell me where you’re at, you bastard!”

_ “You’re a smart lady, Zarina. Find me.” _ The line went dead and she cursed again. It was stupid to play his game and she knew it, but she was too hopped up on the adrenaline that surged through her veins from the mix of fear and anger he coaxed from her.

She took off down the parking lot. Every dark corner she came across was searched. No signs of the white mask anywhere. She bolted across the street and continued her hunt. After blindly stumbling around for a while, something clicked in her mind. “He wouldn’t be _that_ stupid…” She mumbled as she held up her phone. Well, it was worth a shot. She dialed the number and waited, not even daring to breathe.

The sound of a generic ringtone coming from down the street had her jumping. _'No way.'_ She thought to herself. A hand hovered over the pocket that held her knife as she neared it. She was fully prepared to defend herself if she had to… But that need never came. Instead, she found the phone on the ground in an alley with no Ghost Face in sight. Everything about that situation screamed ‘trap’, but she chose to near it anyway. She picked up the cheap-looking flip phone and examined it, brow furrowed.

“Well well,” A distorted voice rang out from behind her. She turned to see a familiar mask staring back at her. His arms were crossed over his chest. She could almost envision a taunting smirk under the mask from the way he spoke. “You’re a clever little minx, Zarina, I’ll give you that. Too bad I’m always three steps ahead.” He moved forward and held out his hand. “Can I have that back?”

“Don’t get  _ any  _ closer!” She warned as she held the burner above her head. “I’ll fucking smash this thing!”

He laughed. “Oh, go right on ahead. I can get another one… But please, make it easy on us both.” She sneered and tossed the phone at him. He caught it with ease. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

Aright. That pointless exchange was over. “Why are you here?”

He shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood and figured I’d drop by… Forgive me for doing it in such a roundabout way, but I doubt those friends of yours would appreciate some masked guy walking up to you in the middle of your little get together.”

She gritted her teeth at the mention of her friends. “Don’t you even  _ think  _ about laying a hand on  _ any  _ of them.”

Another laugh. It was more drawn out than the first. “Oh, that is  _ precious, _ girl. How the hell do you think you could stop me if I wanted to?” That only angered her further. “Lucky for you, I don’t. Never really cared about them.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Do you think this is some tropey horror flick where I go around slashing up your friends, saving you for last because of some grudge I hold against you? No. That’s not how this works.” He shook his head. “I kill on my own terms, remember? You  _ do  _ have that ‘final girl’ spirit in you though. I guess that’s why you interest me so much.” He paused and tilted his head. “You’re special, you know that?”

Special? What? “How?”

He continued moving forward with his typical haunting grace. “Because out of all the people I’ve taken any form of interest in, you’re the first I don’t want to kill.” How could he admit to something as jarring as that so  _ casually? _

She stood there, jaw slightly agape. He was only confusing her further. “What?”

“I mean, I  _ did  _ at first, and I definitely could have. I know more about you than just your number.” He got into touching distance and saw her reaching for something. A gloved hand shot out and grabbed her by her neck. She immediately tried to claw at it, but he shoved her against a brick wall and pulled his knife from his jacket. The steel blade glinted in the dim light as he held it to her face, sending a silent message. He didn’t  _ want  _ to kill her, but he wasn’t  _ afraid  _ to if it came to that. She lowered her hands and let him continue. “Oh, it would have been so  _ easy,  _ too.” The side of the blade was pressed lightly to her cheek. He knew what he was doing with it enough to not leave a mark. “Hell, you’ve already handed me  _ multiple  _ opportunities. I could have followed you in the shadows until I found a nice, secluded area to drag you into. Could’ve slit your throat and watched the light fade from your eyes.”

She tried to keep her voice steady. The hand lightly pressing down on her throat didn’t help. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because, as I said, you’re special. It’d be a waste to just murder someone like you.” The hunting knife was stashed away once more, but he didn’t remove his hand from her neck. The other rested against the bricks somewhere off to the side of her head.

She let out a bitter laugh. “A serial killer  _ not  _ wanting to kill someone? You don’t hear that too often.” She kept her eyes narrowed at him, daring him to make a move. She’d take advantage of any opportunity he could give. “If this  _ was  _ a movie, I’d probably be your ultimate downfall then.”

“Maybe you would be, but I like playing dangerous games.” He finally moved the hand at her throat and brought it up to brush it against her cheek. She turned her head away. “I wonder-” The sound of her phone ringing startled him and he backed up.

Alison was calling her. Zarina answered. “Yeah?”

Her friend sounded worried when she responded.  _ “Where are you, Z? I tried looking for you outside but I don’t see you anywhere. Please don’t tell me I drove you away.” _

“No, you didn’t. I’m on my way back. I just…” She paused and looked around. The masked man that once stood before her had vanished. “I needed some fresh air. Just go back inside. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

_ “Alright. See you then.” _ She hung up.

Zarina walked back onto the street and looked around. No Ghost Face. He was probably long gone at that point. She sighed and straightened her jacket before walking back to the bar. When she got there, Jed was already back at the table. She took her seat next to him again. Alison chided her for walking the streets alone at night. There was a very active serial killer on the loose that liked to stalk people around bars. Yeah. Zarina knew that all-too-well. She just let the little redhead burn herself out, which happened pretty quickly.

The rest of the night passed by without any word from Ghost Face. Zarina felt anxious the entire time but tried to not let it ruin her fun. She remained in her seat most of the time, watching the men roughhouse with Alison and her girlfriend. The three of them took quiet bets on which of the guys could beat the others at pool. Nathan came out on top by the end of their matches and Alison cursed under her breath as she slid twenty dollars into her friend's hand under the bar table - ten from her and ten from Liv. 

The thought of a killer being somehow  _ ‘interested’  _ in her - God only knew what he meant by that - clung to the back of Zarina's mind throughout the night though. Out of all the people in Roseville, it  _ had  _ to be her.

She  had trouble sleeping that night and woke up the next day with a horrible migraine that she couldn’t blame on alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was way too excited to get this chapter out. I had this planned out for a /long/ time and even wrote the convo between Danny and Zarina before I finished chapter 18. This is one of the many curveballs he's gonna be throwing at her. ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	20. Admit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed asks Zarina out on a date and has something to confess the next morning.

Zarina was sitting at her desk Saturday afternoon, fingers pressed against her temples. Her throbbing headache from that morning had mostly subsided, but her frustration remained. She kept going over the conversation with Ghost Face from the previous night in her head. He stated everything so blatantly, but she still didn’t understand any of it. He was too careful with his wording and didn’t give much away. What she _did_ know was that her friends were safe for the time being and she somehow had a serial killer obsessed with her. The knowledge that he had no intention to add her to his body count did little to comfort her.

Her eyes turned towards her phone. The rational side of her brain screamed to block the number and _never_ speak to him again… But it wasn’t like he couldn’t find ways of getting around that, and who was to say what he’d do if she tried to cut contact with him? The guy was clearly unstable and the last thing she needed to do was provoke him.

The sound of her phone ringing had her jumping out of her skin. She fumbled and nearly dropped it when she checked who it was. Despite what she was going through, she couldn’t help but smile when she saw the name that appeared on screen. She answered it.

“What’s up?”

 _“Hey, Zarina. Not much.”_ Jed’s voice was still comforting. _“I just wanted to know if you had any plans tonight.”_

“No. Not really.” She glanced over at her corkboard. “I was just going to spend the night like I normally do.”

 _“You mean neck-deep in your serial killer research?”_ The scoff she responded with had him laughing. _“Why don’t you take a break? I heard a pretty good restaurant just opened up downtown. Nothing too fancy. Wanna go?”_

That offer was unexpected, but not unwelcome. She smirked.“You distract me too much sometimes, Jed Olsen. I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose. I came to Roseville for a reason, you know.”

 _“Can’t help it. I like your company, doll.”_ She had no comeback for that. _“So, what do you say?”_

“Fine. Just give me some time to get ready.”

 _“I’ll be there in a few hours.”_ He hung up.

Zarina immediately stood up from her desk and walked to her bathroom. She had a wild bedhead that needed taming.

* * *

Jed sent a text saying he’d be there around six. Zarina had managed to shower, get dressed, and do her hair in the time she was given. He said the restaurant wasn’t anything fancy. Good. She was fine with that but still chose to slip into a familiar black dress. Once she was finished, she grabbed her bag and keys and went outside to wait for him. He pulled up and she got into his car.

“Wearing that again?” He asked as they drove off.

She scratched the back of her neck and gave an awkward laugh. “I don’t have much in the way of dresses… And it’d feel weird going there in what I normally wear.”

“You don’t need to impress me. I think you’ve done that enough anyway.” He enjoyed the way her face lit up a bit too much.

“I know, I’m just not used to this.”

“Not used to what?”

Did she have to spell it out for him? “Dating. Going places with people. It was never my scene.”

“Really? You never dated anyone before? I find that pretty hard to believe.”

“I did, once… But things didn’t end well.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about him though. Isn’t it in poor taste to talk about former lovers during a date or something?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He glanced over at her before returning his attention to the road. “You’re not going to drive me away if that’s what you’re worried about.” Was he able to read her mind or was it _that_ obvious? “I know what I want.” That was pretty damn vague.

“And what is it that you want?” She asked.

“You’re a smart gal, dollface. Put the pieces together.” Was he messing with her or actually afraid to admit to something out loud? He was always so upfront about everything else. Why was this the thing he got caught up on?

Zarina’s normal instinct was to pry into someone’s brain and find the answers they refused to give. She had done it multiple times in the past, but Jed wasn’t someone she was interviewing for a film or post on her blog. This was something entirely different. It was personal. She couldn’t approach things like she normally did, poking and prodding at his mind until he caved. The situation was far too foreign to process. She fell silent for the rest of the ride and tried to ignore the tension it caused.

They got to the restaurant and weight finally lifted from her chest as she got out of the car and breathed in the fresh air. His arm was casually wrapped around her shoulders as they walked towards the building. His touch alone eased her racing mind. She was ready to push that awkward car ride out of her mind and just focus on the night ahead. Going on a proper date was a new experience for her and she wasn’t about to let _anything_ ruin it. They got a table and a waitress came up to order their drinks.

“So, I have a question.” Jed’s voice had her looking up from the menu.

“I might have an answer.” She smirked when he rolled his eyes. “What do you want to know?”

“You asked me about my roots, so what about you? Did you spend your whole life in New York before moving here?”

She nodded. “My parents moved to the States from a small village in Lebanon before I was born. They wanted a fresh start, and I guess they saw America as their opportunity for one. I grew up in Brooklyn and only left it a few times.”

“And you never visited Lebanon?”

“No. My parents said they left for a reason, and I never questioned it. As a result, we never went there, even to visit family. They still embraced certain parts of the culture though, especially my mother.” Zarina laughed nervously. “I’m glad she never found out how I acted in school.”

“What about your father?”

“You’re full of questions tonight, aren’t you?” His only response to that was a shrug. She continued. “He never followed strict traditions, if that’s what you’re getting at. He was the one who encouraged me to explore my interests and fueled my passion for my work. I used to borrow his camera to make my films. He always said he was my biggest fan.” She looked down at the table. “I miss him.” Jed leaned over and placed a hand over hers, and she welcomed the comforting touch. “I think one of the reasons I moved to Roseville was to have a fresh start, just like my parents did.”

“And what did you think that ‘fresh start’ would entail, other than chasing after a murderer?”

“Whatever was thrown my way, I guess. I was aware of the risks going into this, but there were still a few things I didn’t expect…” She had the feeling he knew what she meant by that. “I don’t regret any of it though.”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “Good to hear.”

The waitress soon arrived with their drinks and left again when she took their orders. The two of them were in good spirits. Despite his career path taking him all over the eastern side of the States, Jed never made it up to New York. Zarina happily answered the questions he had for her about Brooklyn. Admittedly, it made her a little homesick. She’d kept in some form of contact with her mother and the friends she had back home, but this had been the longest she ever stayed away from there. At least she befriended people in Roseville. Part of her wondered how lonely her time in the city would have been if it wasn’t for Jed asking her to go to that charity event with him and the others. 

She chose to push that thought aside and focused on the way he was looking at her as they talked. Jed was insatiable at times. She learned that fairly quickly and didn’t mind it. Not with the way he made her feel. Her legs closed tightly, trying to stave off the arousal she started feeling. _‘Not now, Z.’_ She thought to herself as she returned her attention to Jed. He must’ve caught onto what was happening.

“You okay?” He asked.

She suddenly found more interest in the mostly empty dish in front of her and kept her eyes locked onto it. “Yeah.”

“You seem distracted.” He shifted around, arms resting against the table between them. “The question is, what’s distracting you?”

“You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.” She smiled when he sighed at her. He really should have seen that one coming. When she finally found the courage to look up at him, her face reddened at his intense gaze.

“Want to stay at my place for the night after we’re done here?”

Yes, she sure as fuck did.

* * *

Zarina woke up in Jed’s house the next morning. She sat up in the bed and stretched her arms as she looked around. He wasn’t there. She located her underwear and shirt and threw them on before walking out of the bedroom, deciding to forego pants for the time being.

Jed sat on his couch in the living room, seemingly lost in thought. She stood there for a few moments, not quite sure what to do or say. He looked as though he was debating something inside of his head if the stare he was giving at the floor in front of him was anything to go by. He eventually noticed the woman peering at him from across the room and shoved the thoughts that were troubling him aside.

She walked over and sat down next to him, acting as though she hadn’t noticed. “Morning.”

“Morning.” He wrapped an arm around her and she was quick to lean against him. Fingertips brushed against one of the few new hickeys adorning her collarbone and she shuddered. “These look nice on you.” The snort she responded with had him laughing.

She kissed his jaw, which had him turning to capture her lips. The moment they shared was… Oddly sweet. He pulled her onto his lap and she cupped his stubbly cheeks. Every touch was gentle and meaningful, which was very unlike everything else she had experienced with him. There was no end goal to strip each other out of their clothing and fuck on the spot. Even when she pulled back and looked down at him, she didn’t see his usual wild lust. There was something else instead. Before she had time to process what it was, he spoke again.

“Hungry? You cooked for me twice already. Figured I could return the favor.”

“Uhh… Sure.” She shifted off of him and watched as he stood up and stretched. Thoughts of what just transpired were pushed out of her mind for the time being as she responded to his questions about what she wanted.

They sat at a small table near the doorway to his kitchen. Zarina slowly chewed at a piece of bacon as she examined the man in front of her. He wasn’t his normal attentive self. By that point, he probably would’ve noticed her. She finally decided to give in to her curiosity, which was slowly turning into concern by that point.

“Are you okay?”

He looked up from his cup of coffee. “Yeah, I’m…” He couldn’t lie if he wanted to. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” Had she done something wrong?

He thought his words over carefully. “You remember that conversation we had last night in my car when you asked me what I wanted?” Her silent nod had him continuing. “I still needed time to think about that.”

“And do you have an answer for me now?”

“It’s complicated.”

Zarina knit her brows together as she looked over the man in front of her. He was still _Jed Olsen,_ right? The one who was always so bold and upfront and _never_ hesitated about _anything._ The one who not only _knew_ what he wanted but wasn’t afraid to chase after it. What made this any different? She didn’t want to talk around circles. Not with this.

“Tell me.” Her tone made it clear that wasn’t a suggestion. It was a demand.

“I thought you were crazy when we first met. You spoke like you thought you could take down Ghost Face all on your own. Admittedly, you seemed like you were just full of yourself.” A raised hand silenced whatever bitter retort she had to that. He wasn’t done. “But then you proved to me that you weren’t all talk, and that’s when I started taking notice of how you always back up your words with actions, which is something I can’t exactly say for a lot of people around here. You caught my attention.”

“And this is what you’ve been so caught up on recently?”

“It’s part of what I’ve been ‘caught up on’.”

“What’s the other part then?”

That’s when he went quiet again. She could almost see the cogs turning in his head as he tried to formulate his response. “The other part is what that means to me… What _you_ mean to me. Other people have caught my eye in the past, but not in the way you did.” He stood up and abandoned his partially eaten meal to walk over to her. She gazed into his eyes as he cupped her chin with one hand. “It took me a while to finally realize what made you different, but then it hit me.”

“What did?”

“I fell in love with you.”

The entire room fell deathly silent once more. She sat there for a long time, looking up at him as she tried to process what he just said. Her instincts would have told her that he was messing with her. She waited for him to smile or laugh or do _anything_ that told her he was joking, but that never came. Instead, pieces started clicking together inside of her head. Everything suddenly started making sense, and not just with his emotions, but hers as well. “Jed…”

He took a few steps back. Was he worried that he messed up? The wide-eyed look on his face told her that he thought he did. She quickly got out of her chair and closed the gap between them again. She could visibly see his tension fade away as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His own looped around her back.

The scene was almost laughable. It was like something out of a romantic comedy. They were grown adults but acted as though they were teenagers experiencing love for the first time. Funnily enough, Zarina couldn’t actually remember feeling this way about anyone before. She had crushes in the past, sure, but this was completely different. Maybe Jed was going through the same thing?

“I love you, Zarina.”

“I love you, too.” A warm smile spread across her face as she rested her head against him. She could have stayed in that moment forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Resident sociopath has trouble coming to terms with the fact he feels actual human emotions towards someone for once in his life. More at 6.
> 
> The past few days have been crazy my dudes. I had this thing sitting here 3/4ths of the way done but could not find time to finish it between the recent power outage and cleaning my house. I somehow managed though. 
> 
> Hope you all liked it!


	21. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ghost Face messages Zarina at work. She decides she wants an explanation...

It was hard to not notice the grin plastered across Zarina’s face as she sat down at her desk on Monday morning. Sunday had been the craziest whirlwind of emotions she’d felt in a long time, but it was worth it.

“Been a while since I’ve seen you like this,” Alison commented, which had Zarina looking up at her. The bubbly redhead stood by the side of her desk, palms flattened against the top of it as she leaned on them. “You gonna tell me what happened or what?”

Zarina chuckled and shook her head. “I had a good weekend.”

“Seems like it was more than just  _ good.”  _ Her friend pried way too much sometimes.

She looked over to Jed’s desk. He was glancing back and forth between his computer screen and the notepad in front of him, occasionally scribbling something into the latter of the two. “Let’s just say I might have another reason to stay in Roseville after this whole Ghost Face thing is dealt with.”

Alison’s eyes followed hers. “Oh?”

He finally noticed the two women looking over at him and waved. Zarina quickly averted her gaze and looked over to Alison instead.

“C’mon now. Get back to work. You can interrogate me later.”

“Fine, but I  _ am  _ taking you up on that.” She ignored how Zarina rolled her eyes and turned to walk off back to her desk. Her friend just laughed and turned on her computer, ready to get her day started.

Aside from Alison’s teasing, the day breezed by almost uneventfully.  _ Almost.  _ As she was grabbing a drink from the vending machine in the break room, her phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket, half expecting it to be one of her friends needing something. The blood drained from her face when she saw the number. She quickly finished what she was doing and ducked off to a corner of the room to read the message.

_ ‘Pleasant day, isn’t it, sweetheart?’ _

She growled. He  _ never  _ tried to contact her this early in the day.  _ ‘What the hell do you want?’ _

_ ‘I had the feeling something was bothering you during our last meeting. Shame that it was cut so short by that nosy friend of yours.’ _

_ ‘I was kind of in the middle of something with my friends when you decided to start harassing me.’ _

_ ‘Forgive me for interrupting your little get together.’ _

She gritted her teeth. It was so easy to sense the sarcasm even through text. _ ‘So are you going to tell me why you’re bothering me at work?’ _

_ ‘I was wondering if you wanted to continue our little conversation tonight.’ _ Another meetup? Was that a good idea?  _ ‘Maybe someplace a little more secluded so I can have you all to myself?’ _ The way he worded that made her want to throw up… But she couldn’t resist.

_ ‘When and where?’  _ After that was done and over with, she shoved her phone back into her pocket and walked out of the room… Only to nearly slam face-first into Jed. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she staggered back. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t-”

“You’re fine, babe.” He looked her over and frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I just…” She sighed. “I’m okay.”

He was hesitant to accept that. “You seem distracted.”

The last thing she wanted to do was admit she was meeting up with Ghost Face again. Even if he already knew about the previous ones, she didn’t need to worry him. “I’m going to hang out with Alison for a little after work, and then I’ll be working on a blog post for the rest of the night.” That was good enough of an excuse and wasn’t a  _ complete  _ lie.

“Right. I guess I’ve distracted you from that for long enough.”

“We can meet up this weekend if you want. There’s something you can help me out with.”

“Oh? What would that be?”

She smirked. “It’s a secret. I’ll tell you on Friday.” He didn’t like the answer but still accepted it. “For right now though, I need to get back to my desk.” She quickly pecked him on the cheek and enjoyed the surprised look he gave. “Talk to you later,  _ babe.”  _ He silently watched as she walked back over to her desk. A few sets of eyes noticed the brief exchange. Jace shot Zarina a thumbs up.

* * *

Zarina’s day with Alison went well. She excitedly told her friend about what happened over the weekend as they walked through the park. Alison was equally as excited. After that was all said and done, they spent a few hours casually chatting about recent events at work. The attentive little redhead always seemed to know what was going on there.

They went their separate ways before it got dark. Zarina soon found herself sitting in front of her corkboard, staring down newspaper clippings and printed out articles written on Ghost Face. Her eyes narrowed at one with a photograph of his iconic mask. Once upon a time, he was just another one of her projects. Another scumbag she wanted to see locked away where he could never hurt anyone. She never would’ve guessed how rapidly things could’ve changed - how much more personal things could’ve become. A serial killer was obsessed with her now, and she  _ needed  _ answers from him or she was going to drive herself crazy.

She snarled and turned her computer on. They were set to meet at midnight so she still had some time to go over notes and mentally prepare for what was going to happen. As she did, she thought about concealing her voice recorder and secretly using it for their meeting. If it were any other time, maybe she would have, but not then. Things were different.

The last few hours passed by so slowly that it was almost agonizing, but she pulled through and soon found herself walking down the dimly lit streets of Northern Roseville. It was nearly midnight and Ghost Face made sure to pick a much more secluded spot to meet.

From what she could find on the place, it was supposed to be a hotel, but poor handling of money and a few accidents during construction had the owner abandoning the project when it was nearly completed many years before Zarina set foot in Roseville. The state took the property and still had yet to do anything with it. Locals spun wild tales about the decaying building being haunted by the ghosts of a few workers that met their untimely ends when the site was still active. Ironically, there  _ was  _ a ghost haunting the place that night, but it wasn’t one of the former workers.

She slipped through an opened spot in the rickety chain link fence, shuddering at the rattling noise it made as she passed through. She was in a perfect setup for a horror movie. Ghost Face could lure her into the crumbling, moss-covered building and butcher her, and then splay her mangled corpse out on the nearby street as a warning to anyone else foolish enough to pursue him like she did. She still had very little faith that what he told her the other night was true.

As she was examining some of the graffiti local kids sprayed on the walls, the sound of rustling fabric caught her attention. She turned to see a familiar white mask staring back at her. Her fingers curled into fists.

“Good to see you again, little detective.”

“I want an explanation.”

A low chuckle crackled through his voice modifier. “Straight to the point like always? Good, but you’re gonna have to be a _little_ more specific.”

“What did you mean when you called me special?”

“Didn’t I already tell you before?”

“Nothing specific. You just told me you didn’t want to kill me. Why?”

He paused, probably wanting to choose his words carefully. Was she finally starting to dig into something more personal about him? “I like your spark - the way you’re not afraid to get yourself in trouble. I’ve dealt with journalists and  _ actual  _ detectives in my time that were all talk… Well, until I silenced them  permanently. You’re not like them though.”

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.” How else was she supposed to take it?

“You’re dangerous for me, yet also intriguing.” He started moving towards her and she steeled herself. There was no point in backing away. “And I  _ did  _ mean what I said when I told you I don’t want to kill you. I can tell you still have doubts.”

“I’d be a fool if I didn’t.”

He shrugged. “I don't have any plans to, and you should _know_ I like planning my kills. I also like the little game we play. It’s cute that you’re so determined you’ll come whenever I call and grasp at the shreds of information I give you.”

“You’ll slip up one day.”

“We’ll just have to see about that. I’ve been doing what I do for a long time, Zarina.”

She crossed her arms and adjusted her posture as if to make herself look and feel bigger than she was. “But I know something you  _ haven’t  _ been doing for a long time.” That had him tilting his head. “You haven’t been arranging secret meetings with someone bent on tearing you down.”

Silence fell for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then boisterous, static-ridden laughter filled the air, as though she’d just told him a funny joke. Wait. No.  _ She  _ was the joke. “Yeah, okay, sweetheart. You got one hell of an ego to think  _ you’ll  _ be my downfall. I’ll admit that you were an unexpected twist though. Normally, when I look at someone, all I see is the fun ways I can maim and kill them… But, you? No.”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you see then?”

“I see a  _ lot  _ of things, sweetheart.” He inched even closer to her. “Most of them involve you at my mercy, helpless and begging… But not for your  _ life.” _

It didn’t take a genius to realize what he meant by that.  _ Disgusting.  _ “So you’re a serial killer  _ and  _ a pervert? Didn’t anyone tell you it’s hard to impress a girl when you’re hiding under a mask? Why don’t you just let me-” 

He immediately moved back when she held up her hands and grabbed his blade from inside his coat. “If you try that shit, I  _ will  _ gut you.” She stopped and he sheathed his weapon again.

She made sure to back up to a more comfortable distance. “You can stay the hell away from me.”

“How many times do I need to tell you if I was going to do something to you, I would’ve done it already? How do you think you could stop me? With that butter knife in your jacket pocket?” He laughed dryly. “I’d like to see you try.”

She was sure that she never  _ once  _ hinted that she carried a weapon on her. Some of her friends didn’t even know. “How did you…” There was no reason to ask pointless questions. “Nevermind. Of course, you would know.”

“Now you’re catching on.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She glared up at him, hating how powerless she was. She knew how to protect herself, but against a murderer? There was only one thing she  _ could  _ do that wouldn’t result in her untimely demise. She needed to get out of there. “I’m leaving.”

“So soon? I figured you’d at least  _ try  _ to pick my brain more.”

“This is pointless. Go find someone else to creep on. I’m sure you have plenty of targets.” As she started moving past him to get to the fence, he grabbed her by the arm and forced her to face him again.

“I never said this was over, Zarina.”

She growled. Her fear was overtaken by anger. She didn’t like getting pushed around by  _ anyone,  _ freak in a mask, or otherwise. Instead of going about things in a rational way that would guarantee her insides staying on the inside, she chose to rip her arm out of his grasp and shove him away from her. “Don’t you  _ dare  _ touch me!”

He staggered and collided against the wall. The mask hid his reaction, but the lack of a snarky retort told her it probably wasn’t good. He just stared at her. Even when she started backing up, he didn’t move or speak. She took the opportunity to turn and book it out of the construction site and into the streets. Paranoia sunk in quickly and she stayed hyper-aware of her surroundings. Luckily, she never saw him.

Her legs were wobbly as she walked into her apartment. All she was able to do was lock her door and get her jacket off before collapsing onto her bed. Her adrenaline soon wore off and she drifted into unconsciousness.

Maybe it was for the best that she never spoke to him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive my guys. So much shit has happened over the past couple of weeks. My birthday was great and I maybesortakinda got a boyfriend? Idk. ANYWAY, this one was kinda short, but I have some fun plans for the next chapter. Stay tuned. ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	22. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace asks Zarina for advice on film making. While walking home that night, something leaves her feeling uneasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a little surprise for you all. Hope you enjoy it. ;)

Another set of murders had occurred Tuesday evening. It was a single mother and her nineteen-year-old son. Zarina didn’t know why she decided to watch the news story the next morning. It was the same old shit on a different day. She’d just get herself angry. At least Ghost Face hadn’t bothered her since their last meeting. She still had a few choice words for him.

As she got ready for her day, her thoughts wandered to darker places. She wondered if the attacks were retaliation for the way she acted in some way. That, of course, was ridiculous. He said his life didn’t revolve around her, and that was something she actually believed. He was going to kill regardless because it was just in his nature, but that did little to make her feel better. If anything, it made her feel like she wasn’t doing enough. She came to Roseville for a reason, right?

She was pulling her shirt on when her phone’s text-sound went off. She honestly expected it to be Ghost Face. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he wanted to gloat now that he added two more to his body count. Jace’s number was the one that appeared on her screen. She sat down at the edge of her bed and read the short message over.

_ ‘Hey, are you down to help me with something?’ _

She tilted her head.  _ ‘What do you need?’ _

_ ‘I’ve been working on a short film and could use some advice.’ _

Memories of her lunch out with her friends came back. Jace had talked to her about it then. She smiled to herself as she responded.  _ ‘I’ll be free after work.’ _

_ ‘Sounds good. See ya.’ _

She sat her phone back down and sighed. A simple day was what she needed. At least she might get that for once.

* * *

Jed hadn’t shown up to work that day. Natalie told Zarina that he called off due to an emergency. Their boss didn’t ask too many questions. Jed was a model employee, after all. There was no reason to suspect he was just ditching for the sake of it. As she got set up for work, she debated on calling him later to see if he was alright.

The day was spent working on a piece about the push for Roseville’s elementary school to be remodeled over the summer. If some of the pictures she saw were anything to go by, the building definitely needed an update. She did her best to remain neutral on the topic though. Her boss appreciated the unbiased standpoint she could typically pull off for her articles.

Jace told her to meet him at a cafe near the Gazette. When she arrived, he had a laptop set up at a table. Weird. She never saw him wearing glasses before.

“Lost one of my contacts,” He told her, not looking up from the screen. “Yeah, I see that look you’re giving me out of the corner of my eye.” He smiled when she chuckled and sat down. “So I got everything I need, but I could use another perspective.”

“Sure. Let me see it.”

She spent a good amount of time giving him feedback and showing him different techniques. Cut a scene a little shorter to help the transition. Remove a couple of unnecessary parts. Make sure none of the scenes dragged on for too long. It was mostly basic editing - things she’d do whenever she made videos for her blog. He knew good angles. The story he told was riveting. All in all, he was talented. Just new.

As he made the small changes she suggested, he talked about the contest he was submitting his film to. The winnings could help him get better equipment and maybe kickstart his career. After a while, the conversation turned to normal chatter… And then to a  _ specific  _ topic.

“So, any new theories on Ghost Face?”

She frowned. Did she  _ really  _ want to think about Ghost Face after the other night? Maybe it could clear her mind a little. “Well, he’s taking more time between kills now, and has apparently been more careful since that night.” She still remembered it well. The look in that poor woman’s eyes would haunt her for a long time, even despite the fact she was still alive.

“Maybe you scared him. Alison told me it was a pretty close call, going off of your report to the police.”

“She’s lucky I was there… But I don’t think I scared him.” If the way he came onto her was anything to go by, she had a very  _ different  _ effect on him… And she didn’t like that. “I think he burned through his targets and had to spend time finding and stalking more.”

“Stalking, eh?”

Right. She was privy to a bit more information than most. “He always seems to know when to strike. He’s killed  _ ten  _ people and the police are still scrambling to put strings together. The bastard’s tactful - methodical, even. Why wouldn’t he take every single precaution to make sure he can confirm his kill?”

“Fair enough.”

“And didn’t people come forward saying that they felt they were being watched? One of them turned out to be one of his victims later on. It just adds up, doesn’t it?”

“You pay a lot more attention to these things than I do.” He tilted his head and looked her over. “But what about you though? From everything I hear, the guy’s got way too much of an ego to just let you get away with what you did. Aren’t you even a little bit scared about what he could do?”

She thought back to when he told her that he didn’t want to kill her, and then to when he almost confirmed it by not chasing after her the other night. She gave him  _ every  _ opportunity and he took none of them. “He must be taking his sweet time planning if he wants to off me.”

“Well, you should still be careful. I don’t want you turning into this sick fuck’s Magnum Opus.” She tensed at the thought and he immediately backtracked. “Shit, I’m sorry. I don’t want to scare you.”

She laughed awkwardly. “Funnily enough, I’ve dealt with far scarier things than a serial killer stalking and potentially murdering me.” Especially because, if his words were anything to go by, she was still safe until he decided to change his mind. “I pissed off an entire gang back in Brooklyn by getting one of their most influential members locked up. Another member of it saw me outside a few weeks after I got back home and told me he would’ve gutted me if I wasn’t a woman.”

“Wow. That’s…”

“Disturbing and sexist? I know.” She rolled her eyes. “There’s a reason why I don’t care about Charlie’s antics. He’s nothing compared to what I  _ can  _ get.”

“Yeah, and he’s a law-abiding citizen from what I know. The guy can be an ass sometimes but he’d never stoop to physical violence.”

“Exactly, so I just brush it off.”

The two continued their conversation until the cafe was about to close. Zarina said goodbye as Jace packed up his things and headed out onto the street. It was already somewhat dark out, but her apartment wasn’t too far away. There were still enough people out and about for her to feel almost comfortable as she walked down the street… 

But something felt off as she went. It was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew well. She looked around, but nothing felt out of the ordinary.  _ ‘You’re just paranoid, Z. Keep going.’  _ It was just because she was concerned over what happened with Ghost Face, right? She debated on calling someone. A familiar voice would soothe her worries. Her first option was Jed. It was probably time to give him an update on her situation, but something important enough for him to call off of work had come up, right? Depending on how serious it was, she’d rather not cause him any stress.

Alison had plans with Liv. Jace told her he had to get back home quickly. Natalie was having problems with her phone… 

No. She was fine. Nothing was going to happen. She didn’t have to bother anyone. While she lacked her jacket, she still kept her knife secured in her right pocket. A hand patted it gently just to make sure it was there. She didn’t need to get herself worked up, but she remained wary of her surroundings, eyes shooting in the direction of anything that looked off. Her short walk home was uneventful, but she wasn’t able to shake the uneasiness until she was inside her apartment. Alright. That was enough excitement for one day.

* * *

(Danny POV)

Danny sighed as he walked through the street. Night was falling and he had work to do. His mind had been all over the place recently and a break to sort things out had been in order for a long time. His boss didn’t ask too many questions when he called off. He just told him to do what he had to and be in the next day.

Not seeing Zarina at all for the first time in a while was odd. She was the one plaguing his mind and he was unable to make heads or tails of it. At first, he didn’t think much of her. Her confidence caught him off guard, and so did her ego. He thought she was full of herself until he found out how she backed up her words with actions.

Something he remembered far too clearly was the night of Natalie’s party. He had shown his physical attraction to her on a few occasions, and he had caught the glances she gave him when she thought he wasn’t looking. Something told him to just take the chance, and it paid off a little too well. He could’ve killed her when he was driving her back home. She was out of it and even demanded that he stayed with her that night. It could’ve been simple and quick… But something stopped him. At first, he thought it was concern over getting caught. He was the last person seen with her, so it would’ve raised flags. Then things started getting complicated.

Part of him had the stupid thought that meeting up with her as Ghost Face would change things. Both him and Jed were just masks he threw on whenever it suited him. He should’ve realized things wouldn’t change. He was still the same Danny, regardless of what persona he was hiding behind. If anything, making that mistake brought him closer to her. She dared to stand there, face-to-face with a serial killer, almost unfazed as she demanded answers to the millions of questions running through her mind.

It took him a long time to finally admit to himself that he felt something different towards her. Instead of focusing on where and how he would kill her, his attention often turned to their playful banter or the way she smiled when he put on his charm. It turned to how soft and warm she felt under him, and how she moaned and cooed into his ear as he fucked her. His genuine desire to just be around her was new and exciting, but he quickly realized how dangerous it was the other night. She might’ve loved Jed, but she still very much despised Ghost Face. He had a very thin line to walk.

He tried to push thoughts of her out of his head for the day as he walked towards Walleyes. There was no one in particular on his mind and he was starting to get a little bored. He wanted something different and maybe he could find it if he looked hard enough. As he was walking, a very familiar pair of faces caught his eye.

They were sitting in a small internet cafe. Danny watched from across the street as Zarina gestured towards Jace’s screen as she spoke. For some reason, seeing the interaction displeased him. He knew his coworker had no interest in pursuing Zarina, but that didn’t make it any better. He ducked into the shadows and continued watching them from afar, completely abandoning his original plan to satisfy his curiosity.

As closing time rolled around, she stood up and walked out of the cafe. He debated on somehow trying to casually run into her, but the thought was abandoned when he realized how on guard she became. It was like she had a sixth sense to detect when someone was watching her. The damn girl was too alert for her own good. He opted to remain hidden when he could and simply followed her back to the apartment building she lived in. She was jumpy. The slightest of movements startled her and he noticed the hand hovering around her pocket. A smirk teased at the corners of his mouth as he watched her quickly walk into the building. Then he simply slunk back into the shadows and went on his way again.

There was something he couldn’t resist doing, despite whatever he felt for her. It was too easy to get under her skin as Ghost Face. A hand slipped into his back pocket and produced a cheap flip phone. He found her contact and started texting.

_ ‘Did you have a good evening, little detective?’  _ A couple of minutes passed and he assumed she didn’t want to talk to him. What a pity. Just as he was about to put the phone away, a message finally appeared on the screen.

_ ‘Leave me alone.’ _ That’s  _ all  _ she had to say?

_ ‘Don’t be like that now.’ _

_ ‘I’m blocking this number.’ _

_ 'That's not going to do much, darling.' _

_ 'Go to hell.' _

Wow. So she was  _ that  _ mad over a simple comment he made? Should he have been upset? It was hard to be when he knew how completely clueless she was. All he had to do was switch masks, but he had better things to do. Things that left him a lot less emotionally conflicted. He put the phone away and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets before continuing down the dimly lit street, smiling to himself all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about writing something in Danny's perspective for a minute now but didn't know if I wanted to include it in SA because this is supposed to be told from Zarina's POV. I couldn't resist though. Let me know what you think and if you want to see a little more through our favorite serial killer's eyes. There will probably be less inner monologue next time lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading! It's good to be back.
> 
> P.S. I have another work for this pairing unrelated to this fic. I'm still writing it, but I'll get it up eventually. Stay tuned.


	23. Speak Your Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarina decides to resort to old tactics and issues a challenge to the people of Roseville.

Zarina woke up Saturday morning with a plan. She had spent Friday night compiling what she knew on Ghost Face  and was finally ready to hit the streets and return to old tactics she used when she lived in Brooklyn.

She stood in front of her camera in her living room and began an intro to what was hopefully going to be her most attention-catching post about Ghost Face. She presented the facts. He was a serial killer that hunted during the night, stalking his victims and learning their routines. His current  _ known  _ body count was ten, but he could have plenty more if he wasn’t native to Roseville, and she was sure that he wasn’t. His acts were gruesome and attention-grabbing. He wanted people to see what he undoubtedly thought were works of art, and made sure that no one knew the ‘artist’ behind them.

She maintained an assertive tone with each word she spoke, showing a conviction that she wanted others to feel. Her own emotions on the matter were kept to a minimum. People were supposed to form their own opinions and theories, not piggyback off of hers. That was how things got done.

It took a few tries, but she finally got something she was satisfied with. She’d have to edit it later. She still had other plans. After packing up her equipment, she grabbed her phone and scrolled down to find Jed’s contact. He picked up after a few rings.

_ “Hey, doll. What’s up?” _

“Remember when I told you I had plans today?”

_ “Yes. You were supposed to tell me on Friday.”  _ Whoops. _ “So, what are they?”  _ Well, better late than never. She grinned as she explained what she was going to do. He said he would tag along. After he hung up, she got ready to go.

* * *

Confronting people on the street was a bold move. A lot of them just gave Zarina and Jed a disgusting sneer and walked off. One of the men she walked up to threatened to smash the camera in her hands before she even tried to point it at him. It took a lot of strength to hold Jed back from going after that guy as he walked away. As she was calming her agitated partner down, someone approached them.

“You’re making something on Ghost Face, right? I heard a few people talking…” She was a young woman - early-twenties at most - with dyed blonde hair and cat eye-framed glasses. Her curious look hardened into determination when Zarina nodded. She was just the person the two needed to get the ball rolling. “It feels like no one ever talks about him.”

“No one is brave enough,” Zarina told her as she turned her camera on. “People like to avoid difficult topics. I want to change that.” After making sure she was recording, she held it up. “So, ma’am, what are your thoughts on the current situation?”

“What everyone else thinks. Ghost Face a menace to society,” The woman replied as she shifted on her feet and crossed her arms. “I grew up in Roseville. It was a peaceful place - one of the few left where no one felt the need to lock their doors at night. Now the entire city is scared and nothing is being done about it.”

“That’s what we’re hoping to fix with this. We need to spread information.  _ Push  _ for change.” She paused. “Do you have anything to say to the RPD?”

“Yeah, get your asses in gear.” She scoffed. “Ten people are dead and two more were attacked. He’s clearly not slowing down, and they aren’t doing enough to stop him. Did you two hear that they’re holding a press conference soon? Sounds like just another publicity stunt to me.”

Zarina raised a brow. “Press conference?”

“My boyfriend told me about it. Apparently, the police finally realized keeping everything so hush-hush wasn’t doing them any favors. I doubt anything’s gonna come out of it though.” She rolled her eyes and waved dismissively. “The police chief is probably going to fumble over his words and skirt around any serious questions. Transparency has never been one of the RPD’s strong suits.”

“Given everything I’ve witnessed since I moved here, I can tell.” Zarina shook her head. “Let’s change the subject. Do you have any theories?”

“About Ghost Face?” The woman shrugged. “I’m a part-time waitress, not a detective. All I know is that he’s apparently got a fragile ego if that recording that got leaked is anything to go by. Torturing a poor kid just for a dare? How low do you have to be?”

Memories of Rickie and the events surrounding him came back. She winced. A part of her was never going to forgive herself, even if she was only indirectly involved. Just as Zarina was about to ask another question to get away from that topic, the woman’s phone rang. She had to go. The two thanked her for her time and watched as she left.

“It’s good to see people are starting to demand change,” Zarina said as she looked towards her partner. “Maybe what I’m doing is actually going to be worth it.”

Jed nodded. “You’re the type to  _ inspire  _ change, doll. You’ve proven that already. I’m sure what you’re doing can only help.” Her face lit up. He always knew just the right words to say.

Before she could form a response, a couple walked over to them. One asked what they were doing. Zarina smiled and held up her camera as she explained. The rest of the day was interesting. Sometimes she approached someone. Most of the time, they would approach her. Despite how a lot of people were normally hesitant to get on the topic of Ghost Face, many of them still had interesting viewpoints and opinions when she was finally able to pick their brains. Some were more outspoken, some were more reserved. Just the name of the serial killer made almost every person they spoke to uneasy. It was clear how much unrest he was causing Roseville.

Zarina did most of the talking when they were interviewing someone. She laid down facts and asked for their opinions on matters relating to Ghost Face and the investigation on him. Jed took notes and occasionally chimed in when a question was asked. He mused the thought of turning their little experiment into an article for the Gazette as well. Their boss would eat it up, and so would the public. It also meant information would be more widespread. She was fine with that.

They decided to stop sometime in the afternoon. Zarina had plenty of footage and recordings to go through and Jed promised her a copy of his notes, though she knew it was going to be a chore to decipher his messy cursive writing. That was a problem for later.

“So, I have a question,” Jed told her as they walked towards his car. He glanced around as if making sure no one was listening in. “How have your meetings with him been going?”

It took a few seconds for her to realize who he meant by  _ ‘him’. _ Just the thought had her blood starting to boil all over again, and he wasn’t even  _ there.  _ “What’s there to say about them? All he does is taunt me and act like a creep. I’ve only managed to get small amounts of information, and most of it’s not even helpful. Then there’s the fact he’s-” She stopped herself. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the  _ best  _ idea to tell him that a serial killer felt…  _ Something  _ towards her, especially since she still didn’t know what that something was. “I don’t know. I probably should’ve figured I wasn’t going to get anything out of him. I’m better off looking for clues on my own.”

He pulled his keys from his pocket. “Better than you putting your life on the line.”

“Yeah, that too.” She looked away from him. Part of her was worried about how the Ghost Face would retaliate if she tried cutting contact. He made it clear that he wasn’t done with her, and the last thing she wanted was for someone to get hurt because of her stupid choices. He said that he didn’t care about her friends and that he only killed for himself… But she couldn’t help but wonder if that would change. He was as unpredictable as a person could get.

Jed must’ve sensed something was wrong and changed the subject. “Well, anyway, are you going to keep working on this tonight, or is there a chance I might be able to talk you into coming over?” She couldn’t help but giggle at the smile on his face.

“As lovely as that would be, I still have things I need to do.”

“Tomorrow then?” He asked as he unlocked his car doors.

“I’ll think about it.” She walked over to the other side and got in.

When she got back to her apartment, she immediately sat down, turned on her camera, and delivered the final message for her video. She made it clear that she wanted it to be a call to action. She wanted information on the matter to be known and spread. It was important and something the citizens of Roseville had very little of. At the end of it, she rattled off the names of Ghost Face’s known victims. They were all people with lives that were cut tragically short. No one else deserved to endure what their loved ones had to. She watched the clip a couple of times and felt satisfied enough with how it came out. As she was about to start reviewing everything else, her phone rang.

She checked the number and tensed up. Of  _ all  _ the people to be calling her at that time, it was  _ him. _ That was just her luck. She wanted to turn her phone off and ignore him, but she couldn’t resist the urge to pick up instead, despite already having a pretty good idea of how the conversation would go.

He spoke first, hiding behind his voice modifier as per usual.  _ “That was a cute show you put on today, little detective.” _

The color instantly drained from her face. “You were… Watching me?” From where? He must’ve been unmasked. She might’ve even seen him,  _ talked  _ to him, but where and when?

_ “What can I say? I like keeping tabs on you.”  _ That wasn’t much of a surprise, but it was still extremely creepy. Zarina wasn’t focused on his taunts though. She was too busy racking her brain, trying to remember if anyone had been even slightly off when she spoke to them. He must’ve realized that.  _ “You’re still not any closer, are you? That’s the best part about being me. I know how to keep people guessing.” _

“I  _ will  _ find out who you are eventually.”

_ “You can try, but you’re only setting yourself up for failure. You’ll be leaving Roseville as empty-handed as you came.” _

She sneered. It was hard not letting him get under her skin. It was one thing to deal with critics hiding behind a computer screen, but it was another thing entirely to sit there and be mocked by the man she was trying to bring down. “Don’t bet on it. I’ll figure out who you are and I’ll  _ personally  _ make sure you rot in jail for the rest of your life.”

He cackled at her weak attempt at a threat.  _ “Oooh, scary! Good luck with that.” _

She scoffed. “You’re not the first one to underestimate me.”

_ “The same can be said about you underestimating me, sweetheart. I’ve been doing this for a long while. I think the mighty Zarina Kassir might’ve finally met her match.”  _ She still hated him saying her name. Something about the tone he used when he said it felt degrading. The growl she responded with probably only amused him further. He was getting under her skin and knew it. _ “Anyway, the night is young and I have things to do. I’ll let you get back to your little project.” _

“I’m not done with you.”

_ “Have a good night, Zarina.” _ He hung up. She was  _ fuming. _

She threw her phone onto the desk in front of her and buried her face into her hands. It took a lot of restraint to not call him back right away and chew him out. What good was that going to do? He probably wouldn’t pick up anyway. She sat back in her chair and groaned, fingers combing through her hair. There was no point. He  _ wanted  _ her to crack and she wanted to prove him wrong about her.

Her attention turned to her computer screen. She still had work to do, but maybe it was best to call it quits for a while. She abandoned her project and walked over to her kitchen to make a cup of tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably one of my least favorite chapters, but eh. Things start picking up from here!
> 
> Also, two-faced Danny is two-faced.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	24. Clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After her video on Ghost Face picks up traction, Zarina learns about something that she could potentially tie back to him...

Zarina spent the majority of the next few days working on her video. It wasn’t nearly as much of an undertaking as some of her thought pieces in the past, but still required a lot of time and energy, especially for someone who had a bad habit of nitpicking at the smallest details. She was less than pleased at having to turn Jed’s offer from Saturday down, but she knew she had to focus. If things went well, she just might stumble upon a good lead.

She uploaded the finished piece on Tuesday night. The exhaustion from the previous few days had finally caught up to her so she turned in early. Wednesday rolled around quickly. After waking up late and scrambling to get ready, she hopped into her car and drove to the Gazette, not even having enough time to think about her blog. A few of her coworkers stood by her desk. Alison waved at her as she walked towards the small group.

She smiled as she sat her bag down. “Hey-”

Her energetic coworker quickly interrupted her. “We saw that Ghost Face video you posted last night.”

“Yeah, I figured you would. What did you think?”

“You did a great job! There are soooo many people talking about this guy right now!”

That took her by surprise. “Really? I didn’t get a chance to look at my blog before I left for work. Honestly, I kind of assumed it wouldn’t get too much attention.”

“Well, it did,” Natalie said. She was standing next to Alison, coffee cup in hand. “My husband told me the police chief is finally looking into this more seriously. Takes a lot to get that oaf to do anything, even if civilian lives are on the line.”

Zarina sighed. “That’s not a surprise.” She almost wished it was. “Maybe this’ll kick his ass into shape then.”

“I hope so.”

Charlie had been listening to the conversation from his seat. He spoke up. “You do realize that you’re just giving him what he wants, right?” The small group fell silent. “You said it yourself in that video. He  _ wants  _ attention. How do you know feeding him like this won’t just make things worse for the rest of us?”

Zarina narrowed her eyes at the man. “So what do you want us to do then? Sit back and let him take more lives?”

“Let the people actually trained to handle this do their jobs. You’re only going to make it harder on them.”

Alison quickly rose to her friend’s defense. “Yeah, because just letting them do their jobs has worked out really well so far. He’s killed ten people and they still don’t have much to go off of.”

He scoffed. “Giving him the spotlight isn’t going to help anyone.”

“And ignoring him won’t either.”

Natalie must’ve had enough of the argument. She put a stop to it immediately. Charlie wasn’t known for showing much respect to his coworkers - especially the ones younger than him - but even he would back down whenever she stepped in. Her authoritative tone was admirable, Zarina thought.

The small group disbanded after that and Zarina was finally able to sit down and get to work. As she was going through the messages sent to her work email, someone approached her desk. She looked up and smiled.

Jed returned the smile. “Nice work on that Ghost Face video. Looks like you’re a local celebrity now. Think I could get an autograph?”

Zarina giggled and shook her head. “Thanks. I still don’t know how it got so much traction overnight.”

“People already respect your viewpoints. Isn’t that why Clark Stevenson got a life sentence?” Fair enough. “On top of that, this is still an active case. People want information. The boss just told me he wants another article on Ghost Face because of that. He wants to capitalize on all the hype surrounding him right now.”

“That sounds about right. I’m sure you’ll be able to deliver.”

Jed rested his hands on the desk and leaned on it, looking at the young woman that sat in front of him with a smirk on his face. “Well, if I can’t get that autograph, maybe an interview? You’re pretty much the reason why I got this assignment anyway.”

She sighed and rested back in her chair. “There isn’t much more I can say about him that wasn’t already said in my video, but if you insist, I don’t have anything planned on Friday.”

His smirk stretched into a grin. “Walleyes? Maybe around eight?”

“Sounds good. Anyway, I should get back to work, and you should too.”

“Probably for the best. See you later.”

* * *

After a mostly normal workday, Zarina was ready to get back home and finally check her blog. It seemed people were far more comfortable sharing their opinions from behind a screen, rather than in person. She couldn’t blame them. At least the attention was mostly positive and she achieved her goal of starting a conversation. In a way, her short video was just the start. She wanted to put everything out there and provoke a response. While she knew she would’ve gotten  _ some  _ sort of feedback, she didn’t expect it doing as well as it did. From what she could tell based on comments, a lot of the viewers lived in Roseville or at least knew someone who did.

As she scrolled through comments, her thoughts turned to her conversations with Ghost Face and how he took every opportunity to taunt her, saying how she’d never find anything. If things kept going the right way, she was going to prove him wrong. Just the thought of that alone felt so sweet… 

A ping from her email startled Zarina back to reality. She tabbed over to it. The new email was simply titled  _ ‘You should see this’. _ She didn’t recognize the address but still decided to open it and found a link to a photo of a newspaper clipping from somewhere in Utah. Okay? At first, she thought it was just someone sending her information on another potential case to pursue, but quickly realized it wasn’t.

The piece talked about three murders that occurred in a small town over the course of a week. One was in a home with a security system. A frame from the video feed was included with the article. A person dressed in dark clothes and a nondescript white mask was looking at the camera, blood-soaked knife in hand. After reading the article over, it confirmed her suspicions on why it was sent to her. She quickly returned to her email and replied, asking if they knew anything else about it.

The person who sent it to her responded fairly quickly. They were the child of one of the Utah victims who recently happened upon her blog. The similarities between it and Ghost Face caught their attention almost immediately. They sent over a few more clippings, as well as the brief video the frame was from. There was only one suspect to date, but he disappeared shortly after he found out the police were onto him.

Zarina thanked the emailer for the information. After rereading the article she’d been sent a few times, something came to mind. She quickly grabbed her phone.

Jed picked up when she called.  _ “Yeah?” _ She heard the sleep in his voice and quickly realized just how late it was.

She winced, but still decided to continue. “Sorry for calling you this late, but I have a question.”

_ “Shoot.” _

“Do you know anything about a man named Danny Johnson?”

There was a long pause before his next response.  _ “Not sure. Why?” _

“There’s an article from Utah from a little over ten years ago about a few unsolved murders that happened there and he was the only suspect. I was wondering if you heard anything about it when you lived there.”

_ “Must’ve happened after I left.” _ Damnit.  _ “I never kept up with news from that state. Sorry, doll.” _

“It’s fine. I was just wondering. You can go back to sleep now.” They said their goodnights and Zarina quickly returned to her work. She printed out the articles and pinned them to her corkboard.  _ Finally.  _ She had something to work with. 

Her eyes flickered back to her phone a few times. Her less rational side debated on calling Ghost Face to gloat or press for answers. He was probably still up and roaming around. Maybe she could distract him from whatever he was planning on doing that night? No. That probably wasn’t a good idea. It was better for her to send an indirect message instead. She decided that she was going to compile what she could find about Danny Johnson and make a post on her blog, where she  _ knew  _ he was going to see it. The RPD had opened up a tip hotline recently as well. Maybe she could try to get them to take her lead seriously?

She looked at the clock on the corner of her screen. It was going on nine. She still had a few more hours before needing to turn in for the night. After taking a break to eat something and mull over her options, she sat back down at her computer. If he was a suspect in a still-unsolved murder, chances were there was more information on him out there. Maybe she could look into other potential cases as well? Danny might’ve vanished from the public eye ten years ago, but she knew his type. He wouldn’t stop killing. He would just find a new hunting ground, and that very well could’ve been northern Roseville.

After a few hours on Google and a few more messages between her and the person that sent the article, she finally decided to call it a night and go to bed. Everything else was tomorrow’s problem.

* * *

Ghost Face called her later on in the week. Zarina had just walked through her apartment door after work when her phone rang. She frowned when she saw the number, but chose to answer anyway. “What do you want?” She asked as she sat her keys and bag down.

_ “Hey, sweetheart.”  _ Just when she was getting used to not hearing that static-ridden voice modulator, too.  _ “Been a while since we’ve chatted. Figured I’d call to see how you’re doing.” _

“Why would you even care?”

_ “Someone’s in a bad mood.” _ He sounded  _ far  _ too amused.  _ “What’s the matter?” _

“I figured you would’ve gotten the hint from the last time we spoke. I want  _ nothing  _ to do with you. Now,  _ leave me alone.” _

He had the audacity to  _ laugh  _ at that.  _ “Oh, we both know that’s not true, darling. You want everything to do with me. That’s why you came to Roseville, right? To pursue me?” _

“I can do that without having to talk to you.” She glanced towards her computer. “I think I’ve been doing a good job of it as well recently.”

_ “Oh yeah, I saw that video. It was cute, but do you honestly believe it’s going to do anything? I did my research. I chose this place because I know the pigs are nice and lazy here. They’re too comfortable in their little slice of heaven to admit something’s wrong, even as their citizens are getting butchered.” _ He paused briefly and she somehow  _ felt  _ the devilish grin he wore through the phone. It sent a bitter chill down her spine.  _ “They were never prepared for me, and neither are you.” _

The hand holding her phone started to shake. She was getting angry. “Don’t underestimate me.”

_ “Underestimate you? I’m not an idiot, darling. I know how dangerous you could be for me, but…” _

“But?”

_ “Maybe I’ve been overestimating your talents instead. You keep saying how you’ll take me down, but what have you actually done so far to help?”  _ He was  _ trying  _ to rile her up. Sadly, it was working.

She gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a comeback. There was  _ one  _ thing she could use. “I’ve found out things about you, Ghost Face. Things that are going to help me find out who you are and bring you down. It’s only a matter of time.”

_ “Oooh, scary.” _ The man on the other end chuckled.  _ “And what exactly did you find out, little detective?” _

“Do you really think I’ll tell you?” Why would she  _ ever  _ give away what little leverage she had on him? Maybe if she left him guessing, she could scare him. That was the plan at least. There was a brief pause and she thought she’d somehow won the pointless argument.

_ “I think you’re full of shit.” _

“I think you’re  _ worried.” _ She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m getting closer.” For once, she had the upper hand… Somewhat. She was going to take what she could get at that point. Any modicum of power over someone like him almost felt like a drug to her. It was the same feeling she got when she watched Clark Stevenson confess to his crimes after she exposed them. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Ghost Face chuckled.  _ “Mmm… If you’re so sure about yourself, come tell me to my face.” _

“Why would I want-”

He quickly cut her off.  _ “You said you found something out about me, right? I’m willing to bet that whatever it is won’t bring you any closer to finding out who I am.” _

That smile vanished quickly. Condescending bastard. “That’s not a safe bet to take.”

_ “Really? You know what, I think I’ll take it.” _ He cackled when she scoffed at him.  _ “I want to see your face when you realize I’m right.” _

Her fingers clenched into a fist tight enough that the nails imprinted crescent shapes into her palm. No. She wasn’t about to let him wound her pride. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t want to see you again. What would I get out of going?”

He fell silent for a few seconds, as if debating his words carefully.  _ “Since I’m pretty sure you don’t have shit on me, I’ll make you a deal. If you somehow managed to come across anything that leads you to finding out who I am… Then what do I have to hide from you anymore? I’ll tell you. I’ll even show you my face as a bonus.” _

_ What?!  _ No. He was fucking  _ insane.  _ Was he  _ that  _ damn certain? He couldn’t be… He _had_ to be messing around with her, right? It didn't matter what she had. He wouldn't just _give up_ so willingly. It almost felt like a trap. He wanted to find out what she knew and would kill her if he thought she was an actual threat because of it. That was the only logical explanation.

_ “Come on, little detective."  _ He was getting impatient. _"_ _ Y _ _ ou know this offer is too good to pass up.” _

She gritted her teeth. He was right, but not for the reason he probably thought. “When and where?”

_ “Tonight at that old hotel? ‘Round midnight?” _

“Fine.” She hung up before he could get another word in and growled as she tossed her phone onto her desk. Oh, she was gonna go, but she had _different_ plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally done. I've had this sitting in my doc 90% completed for a minute now.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
